Adapter and charging control method

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides an adapter and a charging control method. The adapter includes: a power converter, configured to convert input alternating current to obtain an output voltage and an output current of the adapter, the output current of the adapter being a current with a first pulsating waveform; a sampling and holding unit, coupled to the power converter, and configured to sample the current with the first pulsating waveform in a sampling state, and to hold a peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform in a holding state; a current sampling controller, coupled to the sampling and holding unit, and configured to determine whether the sampling and holding unit is in the holding state, and to sample the peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform held by the sampling and holding unit when the sampling and holding unit is in the holding state.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a US national phase application of InternationalApplication No. PCT/CN2017/070521, filed on Jan. 7, 2017, which claims apriority to International Application No. PCT/CN2016/073679, filed onFeb. 5, 2016, and Chinese Patent Application No. 201610600612.3, filedon Jul. 26, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated hereinby reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to a charging field, and moreparticularly, to an adapter and a charging control method and a chargingsystem.

BACKGROUND

An adapter is also known as a power adapter, and is configured to chargea device to be charged such as a terminal. The adapter now on the marketgenerally charges the device to be charged such as the terminal in aconstant voltage mode. Since a battery in the device to be charged istypically a lithium battery, it is easy to cause a lithium precipitationwhen the device to be charged is charged in the constant voltage mode,thus reducing a service life of the battery.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an adapter and a chargingcontrol method, which reduces a lithium precipitation of a battery, andimproves a service life of the battery.

Embodiments of the present disclose provide an adapter. The adaptersupports a first charging mode and a second charging mode, in which thefirst charging mode is a constant voltage mode, the second charging modeis a constant current mode. The adapter includes: a power converter,configured to convert input alternating current to obtain an outputvoltage and an output current of the adapter, wherein the output currentof the adapter is a current with a first pulsating waveform; a samplingand holding unit, coupled to the power converter, and configured tosample the current with the first pulsating waveform in a samplingstate, and to hold a peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform in a holding state; a current sampling controller, coupled tothe sampling and holding unit, and configured to determine whether thesampling and holding unit is in the holding state, and to sample thepeak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform held by thesampling and holding unit when the sampling and holding unit is in theholding state.

Embodiments of the present disclose provide a charging control method.The method is applied in an adapter, and the adapter supports a firstcharging mode and a second charging mode, in which the first chargingmode is a constant voltage mode, and the second charging mode is aconstant current mode. The adapter includes a power converter and asampling and holding unit. The power converter is configured to convertinput alternating current to obtain an output voltage and an outputcurrent of the adapter, in which the output current of the adapter is acurrent with a first pulsating waveform. The sampling and holding unitis coupled to the power converter, and configured to sample the currentwith the first pulsating waveform in a sampling state, and to hold apeak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform in a holdingstate. The method includes: determining whether the sampling and holdingunit is in the holding state; and sampling the peak value of the currentwith the first pulsating waveform held by the sampling and holding unitwhen determining that the sampling and holding unit is in the holdingstate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to make technique solutions according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure more apparent, drawings needed to be used indescriptions of the embodiments will be illustrated in the following.Obviously, the drawings to be illustrated in the following onlyrepresent some embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawingscan be obtained according these drawings by those having ordinary skillsin the related art without making creative labors.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a second adapter according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are schematic diagrams illustrating a ripperwaveform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a second adapter according to anotherembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a second adapter according to yet anotherembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a phase relationship betweena synchronous signal and a first pulsating waveform according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a second adapter according to still yetanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a second adapter according to still yetanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a second adapter according to still yetanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of obtaining asynchronous signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a current samplingcontroller according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating waveforms of a referencevoltage, an output level of a comparator, and an output current of asecond adapter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating waveforms of a referencevoltage, an output level of a comparator, and an output current of asecond adapter according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a current samplingcontroller according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a second adapter according to still yetanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a second adapter according to still yetanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a second adapter according to still yetanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a second adapter according to still yetanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 a block diagram of a second adapter according to still yetanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 19A is a schematic diagram illustrating a connection between adevice to be charged and a second adapter according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 19B is a schematic diagram illustrating a fast chargingcommunication process according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a second adapter according to yet anotherembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram illustrating a circuit of a secondadapter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram illustrating a circuit of a secondadapter according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart of a charging control method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Descriptions will be made in detail to embodiments of the presentdisclosure, examples of which are illustrated in drawings, in which thesame or similar elements and the elements having same or similarfunctions are denoted by like reference numerals throughout thedescriptions. The embodiments described herein with reference todrawings are explanatory, are intended to understand the presentdisclosure, and are not construed to limit the present disclosure.

In the related art, a first adapter for charging a device to be chargedsuch as a terminal is provided. The first adapter works in a constantvoltage mode. In the constant voltage mode, the voltage outputted by thefirst adapter keeps substantially constant, for example, 5V, 9V, 12V or20V.

The voltage outputted by the first adapter is not suitable for beingdirectly applied to both ends of a battery. Instead, the voltageoutputted by the first adapter needs to be converted by a conversioncircuit in the device to be charged such as the terminal, such that acharging voltage and/or a charging current expected by the battery inthe device to be charged such as the terminal is obtained.

The conversion circuit is configured to convert the voltage outputted bythe first adapter, to meet a requirement of the charging voltage and/orcharging current expected by the battery.

As an example, the conversion circuit may be a charging managementmodule, such as a charging integrated circuit (IC). During a chargingprocess of the battery, the conversion circuit may be configured tomanage the charging voltage and/or charging current of the battery. Theconversion circuit may have at least one of a voltage feedback functionand a current feedback function, so as to manage the charging voltageand/or charging current of the battery.

For example, the charging process of the battery may include at leastone of a trickle charging stage, a constant current charging stage and aconstant voltage charging stage. In the trickle charging stage, theconversion circuit may utilize a current feedback loop to ensure that acurrent flowing into the battery in the trickle charging stage meets thecharging current (such as a first charging current) expected by thebattery. In the constant current charging stage, the conversion circuitmay utilize a current feedback loop to ensure that the current flowinginto the battery in the constant current charging stage meets thecharging current (such as a second charging current, which may begreater than the first charging current) expected by the battery. In theconstant voltage charging stage, the conversion circuit may utilize avoltage feedback loop to ensure that a voltage applied to both ends ofthe battery in the constant voltage charging stage meets the chargingvoltage expected by the battery.

As an example, when the voltage outputted by the first adapter isgreater than the charging voltage expected by the battery, theconversion circuit may be configured to perform a buck conversion on thevoltage outputted by the first adapter to enable a buck-convertedcharging voltage to meet the requirement of the charging voltageexpected by the battery. As another example, when the voltage outputtedby the first adapter is less than the charging voltage expected by thebattery, the conversion circuit may be configured to perform a boostconversion on the voltage outputted by the first adapter to enable aboost-converted charging voltage to meet the requirement of the chargingvoltage expected by the battery.

As another example, assume that the first adapter outputs a constantvoltage of 5V. When the battery includes a single battery cell (such asa lithium battery cell, a charging cut-off voltage of a single batterycell is typically 4.2V), the conversion circuit (for example, a buckcircuit) may perform a buck conversion on the voltage outputted by thefirst adapter, such that the charging voltage obtained after the buckconversion meets a requirement of the charging voltage expected by thebattery.

As yet another example, assume that the first adapter outputs a constantvoltage of 5V. When the first adapter charges a plurality of (two ormore) battery cells (such as lithium battery cell, a charging cut-offvoltage of a single battery cell is typically 4.2V) coupled in series,the conversion circuit (for example, a boost circuit) may perform aboost conversion on the voltage outputted by the first adapter, suchthat the charging voltage obtained after the boost conversion meets arequirement of the charging voltage expected by the battery.

Limited by a poor conversion efficiency of the conversion circuit, apart of electric energy is lost in a form of heat, and the heat maygather inside the device to be charged such as the terminal. A designspace and a space for heat dissipation of the device to be charged suchas the terminal are small (for example, the physical size of a mobileterminal used by a user becomes thinner and thinner, while plenty ofelectronic elements are densely arranged in the mobile terminal toimprove performance of the mobile terminal), which not only increasesdifficulty in designing the conversion circuit, but also results in thatit is hard to dissipate the heat gathered in the device to be chargedsuch as the terminal in time, thus further causing an abnormity of thedevice to be charged such as the terminal.

For example, the heat gathered on the conversion circuit may cause athermal interference on electronic elements neighboring the conversioncircuit, thus causing abnormal operations of the electronic elements.For another example, the heat gathered on the conversion circuit mayshorten the service life of the conversion circuit and neighboringelectronic elements. For yet another example, the heat gathered on theconversion circuit may cause a thermal interference on the battery, thuscausing abnormal charging and/or abnormal discharging of the battery.For still another example, the heat gathered on the conversion circuitmay increase the temperature of the device to be charged such as theterminal, thus affecting user experience during the charging. For stillyet another example, the heat gathered on the conversion circuit mayshort-circuit the conversion circuit, such that the voltage outputted bythe first adapter is directly applied to both ends of the battery, thuscausing abnormal charging of the battery, which brings safety hazard ifthe over-voltage charging lasts for a long time, for example, thebattery may explode.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a second adapter, anoutput voltage of which is adjustable. The second adapter can obtainstatus information of the battery. The status information of the batterymay include electric quantity information and/or voltage information ofthe battery. The second adapter adjusts the voltage outputted by itselfaccording to the obtained status information of the battery, to meet therequirement of the charging voltage and/or charging current expected bythe battery. Further, in the constant current charging stage of thecharging process of the battery, the voltage outputted by the secondadapter after the adjustment may be directly applied to both ends of thebattery for charging the battery.

The second adapter may have a voltage feedback function and a currentfeedback function, so as to manage the charging voltage and/or chargingcurrent of the battery.

The second adapter may adjust the voltage outputted by itself accordingto the obtained status information of the battery as follows. The secondadapter may obtain the status information of the battery in real time,and adjust the voltage outputted by itself according to the statusinformation of the battery obtained in real time, to meet the chargingvoltage and/or charging current expected by the battery.

The second adapter may adjust the voltage outputted by itself accordingto the status information of the battery obtained in real time asfollows. During the charging process, with the increasing of the voltageof the battery, the second adapter may obtain status information of thebattery at different time points in the charging process, and adjust thevoltage outputted by itself in real time according to the statusinformation of the battery at different time points in the chargingprocess, to meet the requirement of the charging voltage and/or chargingcurrent expected by the battery.

For example, the charging process of the battery may include at leastone of a trickle charging stage, a constant current charging stage and aconstant voltage charging stage. In the trickle charging stage, thesecond adapter may utilize a current feedback loop to ensure that thecurrent outputted by the second adapter and flowing into the battery inthe trickle charging stage meets the requirement of the charging currentexpected by the battery (such as a first charging current). In theconstant current charging stage, the second adapter may utilize acurrent feedback loop to ensure that the current outputted by the secondadapter and flowing into the battery in the constant current chargingstage meets the requirement of the charging current expected by thebattery (such as a second charging current, which may be greater thanthe first charging current). Moreover, in the constant current chargingstage, the second adapter can directly apply the charging voltageoutputted by itself to both ends of the battery for charging thebattery. In the constant voltage charging stage, the second adapter mayutilize a voltage feedback loop to ensure that a voltage outputted bythe second adapter in the constant voltage charging stage meets therequirement of the charging voltage expected by the battery.

For the trickle charging stage and the constant voltage charging stage,the voltage outputted by the second adapter may be processed in a waysimilar to that of the first adapter, i.e., is converted by theconversion circuit in the device to be charged such as the terminal, toobtain the charging voltage and/or charging current expected by thebattery in the device to be charged such as the terminal.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, in order to improve areliability and safety of the charging process of the battery, thesecond adapter is controlled to output a voltage/current with apulsating waveform. In the following, the second adapter according toembodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail withreference to FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a second adapter according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. The second adapter 10 in FIG. 1 includes apower converter 11, a sampling and holding unit 12 and a currentsampling controller 13.

The power converter 11 is configured to convert input alternatingcurrent to obtain an output voltage and an output current of the secondadapter 10. The output current of the second adapter 10 is a currentwith a first pulsating waveform.

The sampling and holding unit 12 is coupled with the power converter 11.When the sampling and holding unit 12 is in a sampling state, thesampling and holding unit 12 is configured to sample the current withthe first pulsating waveform. When the sampling and holding unit 12 isin a holding state, the sampling and holding unit 12 is configured tohold (or lock) a peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform.

The current sampling controller 13 is coupled with the sampling andholding unit 12. The current sampling controller 13 is configured todetermine whether the sampling and holding unit 12 is in the holdingstate, and to sample the peak value of the current with the firstpulsating waveform held by the sampling and holding unit 12 whendetermining that the sampling and holding unit 12 is in the holdingstate.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the output currentof the second adapter is the current with the pulsating waveform (orreferred to as the pulsating direct current), which can reduce thelithium precipitation of the battery. Moreover, the current with thepulsating waveform can reduce a probability and intensity of arc of acontact of a charging interface, and can prolong a service life of thecharging interface.

Typically, the second adapter may adjust the output current of itselfaccording to actual situations. Taking the second adapter supporting theconstant current mode as an example, the second adapter may typicallycontinuously adjust the output current of itself based on the voltage ofthe battery in the device to be charged such as the terminal, to chargethe battery in a multi-stage constant current mode. Thus, during thecharging process, it requires to detect and control the output currentof the second adapter in real time. When the current value of the outputcurrent of the second adapter is constant, it is easy to realize thedetection and control of the output current of the second adapter.However, in embodiments of the present disclosure, the output current ofthe second adapter is the current having the first pulsating waveform, amagnitude of which is varying, and thus it is required to design aspecial way for detecting and controlling the output current of thesecond adapter.

For this, in embodiments of the present disclosure, the sampling andholding unit 12 and the current sampling controller 13 are introduced.Based on the sampling and holding unit 12 and the current samplingcontroller 13, the peak value of the output current of the secondadapter can be sampled, and thus the efficient control on the outputcurrent of the second adapter can be ensured.

From the above, the output current of the second adapter is the currentwith the first pulsating waveform. In the present disclosure, thepulsating waveform may refer to an entire pulsating waveform, or mayrefer to a pulsating waveform obtained after performing a peak clippingprocess on the entire pulsating waveform. The peak clipping process mayrefer to filtering out a portion of the pulsating waveform which exceedsa certain threshold, thus realizing the control on the peak value of thepulsating waveform. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2A, thepulsating waveform is an entire pulsating waveform. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 2B, the pulsating waveform is obtained afterperforming a peak clipping process.

It should be understood that, in embodiments of the present disclosure,the method in which the power converter 11 converts the alternatingcurrent into the current with the first pulsating waveform is notlimited. For example, a primary filtering unit and a secondary filteringunit in the power converter 11 may be omitted, such that the currentwith the first pulsating waveform is generated. In this way, it cannotonly enable the second adapter 10 to output the current with the firstpulsating waveform, but can also significantly reduce the size of thesecond adapter 10, which is advantageous for the minimization of thesecond adapter 10.

The device to be charged used in embodiments of the present disclosuremay be a communication terminal (or short for a terminal), whichincludes, but is not limited to a device configured to receive/transmitcommunication signals via a wired connection (for example, publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), digital subscriber line (DSL)connection, digital cable connection, direct cable connection and/oranother data connection/network) and/or via a wireless interface (forexample, cellular network, wireless local area network (WLAN), digitalTV network such as digital video broadcasting handheld (DVB-H) network,satellite network, an amplitude modulation-frequency modulation (AM-FM)broadcasting transmitter, and/or a wireless interface of anothercommunication terminal). The communication terminal configured tocommunicate via the wireless interface may be referred to as “wirelesscommunication terminal”, “wireless terminal” and/or “mobile terminal”.Examples of a mobile terminal include, but are not limited to asatellite phone or a cell phone, a terminal combining a cell radio phoneand a personal communication system (PCS) having capability of dataprocess, fax, and data communication, a personal digital assistant (PDA)including a radio phone, a pager, Internet/Intranet access, a webbrowser, a note pad & address book, a calendar and/or a globalpositioning system (GPS) receiver, and a common laptop and/or handheldreceiver, or other electronic devices including a radio phonetransceiver.

In some embodiments, the second adapter 10 may include a charginginterface (refer to the charging interface 191 illustrated in FIG. 19A).In embodiments of the present disclosure, a type of the charginginterface is not limited. For example, the charging interface may be auniversal serial bus (USB) interface, which may be a common USBinterface or a micro USB interface, or a Type-C interface.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the implementation of thesampling and holding unit 12 is not limited. Typically, the sampling andholding unit 12 can realize signal sampling and holding based on acapacitor. In the following, the implementation of the sampling andholding unit 12 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 3, thesampling and holding unit 12 may include a current sampling unit 14 anda current holding unit 15. The current sampling unit 14 is coupled withthe power converter 11, and is configured to detect the current with thefirst pulsating waveform to obtain a sampling current, and to convertthe sampling current into a sampling voltage. The sampling voltage isconfigured to indicate a magnitude of the current with the firstpulsating waveform. The current holding unit 15 is coupled with thecurrent sampling unit 14 and the current sampling controller 13respectively. The current holding unit 15 receives the sampling voltagefrom the current sampling unit 14, and charges a capacitor (notillustrated in FIG. 3) in the current holding unit 15 based on thesampling voltage. The current sampling controller 13 obtains the peakvalue of the current with the first pulsating waveform by sampling thevoltage across both ends of the capacitor in the sampling and holdingunit 12.

When the first pulsating waveform is in a rising edge, the capacitor inthe current holding unit 15 increases with the current value of thecurrent with the first pulsating waveform, and the sampling and holdingunit 12 is in the sampling state. When the first pulsating waveform isat the peak value or in a falling edge, the voltage across both ends ofthe capacitor in the current holding unit 15 keeps constant, and thesampling and holding unit 12 is in the holding state.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the peak value of the currentwith the first pulsating waveform held by the sampling and holding unit12 is sampled by the current sampling controller 13. In someembodiments, the current sampling controller 13 may include an ADC(Analog-to-Digital Converter), and the current sampling controller 13may sample the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform based on the ADC. In some embodiments, the current samplingcontroller 13 may further include a control unit. The control unit maybe, for example, a MCU (Microcontroller Unit). The control unit includesan ADC port, and the control unit may be coupled to the capacitor in thesampling and holding unit 12 via the ADC port. The control unit maysample the peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveformby sampling the voltage across both ends of the capacitor.

When the sampling and holding unit 12 is in the sampling state, thevoltage across both ends of the capacitor increases with the currentvalue of the current with the first pulsating waveform, which isequivalent to a charging process. When the sampling and holding unit 12is in the holding state, the voltage across both ends of the capacitorreaches the maximum. A correspondence relationship between the voltageacross both ends of the capacitor and the current value of the firstpulsating waveform can be established in advance. In this way, thecurrent sampling controller 13 can obtain the peak value of the currentwith the first pulsating waveform by sampling the voltage value acrossboth ends of the capacitor.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the current sampling controller 13is further configured to control the sampling and holding unit 12 toswitch to the sampling state from the holding state, after the peakvalue of the current with the first pulsating waveform is sampled.

In detail, the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform may vary in real time, and thus it is required to continuouslydetect the peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform,so as to ensure the real-time performance and accuracy of the currentinformation, and further ensure smooth proceeding of the whole chargingprocess. Based on this, after sampling the peak value of the currentwith the first pulsating waveform, the current sampling controller 13provided by embodiments of the present disclosure may control thesampling and holding unit 12 to enter into the sampling state, tore-sample the current with the first pulsating waveform, thus ensuringthe real-time performance and accuracy of the sampled peak value of thecurrent with the first pulsating waveform.

Further, in some embodiments, the current sampling controller 13 maycomplete one sampling of the peak value in each cycle of the firstpulsating waveform, and control the sampling and holding unit 12 toswitch to the sampling state from the holding state immediately aftersampling the peak value. In this way, the peak value of the current withthe first pulsating waveform sampled by the current sampling controller13 is updated every cycle of the first pulsating waveform, thus ensuringthe real-time performance and accuracy of the sampled peak value of thecurrent with the first pulsating waveform.

From the above, it can be understood that, the output current of thesecond adapter 10, i.e., the charging current, is the current with thefirst pulsating waveform. The charging current may charge the batteryintermittently, and a cycle of the charging current may vary with thegird frequency. In some embodiments, the frequency corresponding to thecycle of the charging current may be an integral multiple of the gridfrequency, or may be 1/N of the grid frequency, where N is an integergreater than 1. In other words, the charging current may charge thebattery intermittently. In some embodiments, the charging current mayconsist of one pulse or a set of pulses synchronous with the power grid.

It should be understood that, the current sampling controller 13 maycontrol the sampling and holding unit 12 to switch to the sampling statefrom the holding state in many ways. For example, the current samplingcontroller 13 may control the capacitor in the sampling and holding unit12 to discharge, to empty charges in the capacitor, such that when anext sampling cycle comes, the capacitor in the sampling and holdingunit 12 may be charged again.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 4, thesampling and holding unit 12 may hold the peak value of the current withthe first pulsating waveform based on the capacitor (not illustrated inFIG. 4) in the sampling and holding unit 12. The current samplingcontroller 13 may include a discharging unit 16 and a control unit 17.The discharging unit 16 is coupled to the control unit 17 and thecapacitor in the sampling and holding unit 12 respectively. Thedischarging unit 16 is configured to release charges in the capacitor ofthe sampling and holding unit 12 under a control of the control unit 17,such that the sampling and holding unit 12 switches to the samplingstate from the holding state. Further, the peak value of the currentwith the first pulsating waveform held by the sampling and holding unit12 may be sampled by the control unit 17.

The discharging unit 16 may be implemented in many ways. For example,the discharging unit 16 may include a switch and a resistor coupled inseries with the capacitor in the sampling and holding unit 12. When itneeds to discharge, the control unit 17 controls the switch to switchon, such that the capacitor discharges to the resistor, thus releasingthe charges in the capacitor.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the way in which the currentsampling controller 13 determines whether the sampling and holding unit12 is in the holding state is not limited, which will be described indetail below with reference to specific embodiments.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the current sampling controller 13may detect the current value sampled by the sampling and holding unit 12in real time, and when the current values detected twice in a row keepunchanged, it indicates that the sampling and holding unit 12 is in theholding state.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the current sampling controller 13is configured to receive a synchronous signal, and to determine whetherthe sampling and holding unit 12 is in the holding state based on thesynchronous signal. A cycle of the synchronous signal is 1/N of thecycle of the first pulsating waveform, where N is an integer greaterthan or equal to 1.

Since the current with the first pulsating waveform varies periodically,the time interval between the sampling state and the holding state ofthe sampling and holding unit 12 is related to the cycle of the currentwith the first pulsating waveform (this time interval may be ½ of thecycle of the current with the first pulsating waveform). Based on this,in embodiments of the present disclosure, the synchronous signal havinga special relationship with the cycle of the first pulsating waveform isintroduced (i.e., the cycle of the synchronous signal is 1/N of thecycle of the first pulsating waveform), and the working state of thesampling and holding unit 12 is determined based on the synchronoussignal. For example, the cycle relationship and/or phase relationship ofthe synchronous signal and the first pulsating waveform may be used todetermine whether the first pulsating waveform is at the peak value orin the falling edge. When the first pulsating waveform is at the peakvalue or in the falling edge, it is determined that the sampling andholding unit 12 is in the holding state. In the present disclosure,determining whether the first pulsating waveform is at the peak value orin the falling edge refers to determining whether the first pulsatingwaveform is at the peak value of the first pulsating waveform or in thefalling edge of the first pulsating waveform. Alternatively, determiningwhether the first pulsating waveform is at the peak value or in thefalling edge refers to determining whether the present output current ofthe second adapter is at the peak value of the first pulsating waveformor in the falling edge of the first pulsating waveform, or determiningwhether the present output current of the second adapter is the currentcorresponding to the peak value or the falling edge of the firstpulsating waveform.

Alternatively, as an implementation, the cycle of the first pulsatingwaveform is the same as the cycle of the synchronous signal. Further, insome embodiments, the first pulsating waveform may be in phase with thesynchronous signal. In other words, when the synchronous signal is inthe rising edge, the first pulsating waveform is in the rising edge, andwhen the synchronous signal is at the peak value or in the falling edge,the first pulsating waveform is at the peak value or in the fallingedge. Since the sampling and holding unit is in the holding state whenthe first pulsating waveform is at the peak value or in the fallingedge, it is possible to determine the time when the sampling and theholding unit 12 is in the holding state as long as the time when thesynchronous signal is at the peak value or in the falling edge isdetermined. In other embodiments, there may be a fixed differencebetween the phase of the first pulsating waveform and the phase of thesynchronous signal, for example, the phase difference may be 90 degree,or 180 degree. In this case, it is also possible to determine when thefirst pulsating waveform is at the peak value or in the falling edge andto further determine when the sampling and holding unit 12 is in theholding state, based on the cycle relationship and phase relationshipbetween the first pulsating waveform and the synchronous signal.

When the cycle of the synchronous signal is ½, ⅓, ¼ and the like of thecycle of the first pulsating waveform, it is also possible to determinethe working state of the sampling and holding unit 12 based on the phaserelationship and cycle relationship of the synchronous signal and thefirst pulsating waveform. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the waveform of thesynchronous signal is presented by solid line, and the first pulsatingwaveform is presented by dotted line. The cycle of the synchronoussignal is ½ of the cycle of the first pulsating waveform, and thus whenthe synchronous signal is in the negative half-cycle, the firstpulsating waveform is at the peak value or in the falling edge, and thesampling and holding unit 12 is in the holding state. Thus, it ispossible to determine when the first pulsating waveform is at the peakvalue or in the falling edge by only determining when the waveform ofthe synchronous signal is in the negative half-cycle. And similarly forthe others, which will not be elaborated here.

Furthermore, the synchronous signal may be with the pulsating waveform,or with the triangular waveform, or may be of other types, which is notlimited in embodiments of the present disclosure.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the way for obtaining thesynchronous signal is not limited, which will be described in detailbelow with reference to specific embodiments.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the current sampling controller 13is coupled to the power converter 11, and configured to obtain thesynchronous signal from the power converter 11.

It should be understood that, the synchronous signal obtained from thepower converter 11 may be the alternating current signal received by thepower converter 11, the voltage/current signal obtained by the powerconverter 11 after primary rectification, or the voltage/current signalcoupled to the secondary side from the primary side of the powerconverter 11, or the voltage/current signal obtained after secondaryrectification, or the like, which is not limited in embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the powerconverter 11 may include a primary unit 18 and a secondary unit 19. Thecurrent sampling controller 13 is coupled to the secondary unit 19, andconfigured to obtain the synchronous signal from the secondary unit 19.

It should be understood that, there may be many ways for obtaining thesynchronous signal from the secondary unit 19. For example, thesynchronous signal may be obtained directly from the bus (VBUS) of thesecondary unit 19. In detail, since the output current of the secondadapter 10 is the current with the first pulsating waveform, and theoutput end of the second adapter 10 is coupled with the bus of thesecondary unit 19, it should have the current with the first pulsatingwaveform on the bus of the secondary unit 19, and the synchronous signalcan be obtained directly from the bus of the secondary unit 19.

For another example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the secondary unit 19 mayinclude a first rectifier 20. The first rectifier 20 is coupled to thecurrent sampling controller 13. The first rectifier 20 is configured torectify the current coupled to the secondary unit 19 from the primaryunit 18, to obtain a voltage with a second pulsating waveform, and tosend the voltage with the second pulsating waveform to the currentsampling controller 13 as the synchronous signal.

The secondary unit 19 itself includes a secondary rectifier. Thesecondary rectifier and the first rectifier 20 may be two separaterectifiers. The secondary rectifier is configured to rectify the currentcoupled to the secondary side from the primary side, to obtain theoutput current of the second adapter. The first rectifier is configuredto rectify the current coupled to the secondary side from the primaryside, to obtain the synchronous signal. As illustrated in FIG. 21, theunit indicated by the reference number 39 is the secondary rectifier.Both the secondary rectifier 39 and the first rectifier 20 may belocated close to the secondary winding side of the transformer T1, so asto rectify the current coupled to the secondary side from the primaryside.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the powerconverter 11 may include a primary unit 18 and a secondary unit 19. Thecurrent sampling controller 13 is coupled to the primary unit 18, andconfigured to obtain the synchronous signal from the primary unit 18.

It should be understood that, there may be many ways for obtaining thesynchronous signal from the primary unit 18. For example, it is possibleto obtain the alternating current signal directly from the primary unit18 and send the alternating current signal to the current samplingcontroller 13 as the synchronous signal. For another example, thepulsating direct current signal obtained after rectification of therectifier circuit in the primary unit 18 may be sent to the currentsampling controller 13 as the synchronous signal.

In detail, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the primary unit 18 rectifies thealternating current AC to obtain a voltage with the third pulsatingwaveform. The cycle of the third pulsating waveform is the same as thecycle of the first pulsating waveform. The primary unit 18 may couplethe voltage with the third pulsating waveform to the secondary side fromthe primary side of the second adapter 10 via an optical coupling unit21 to obtain a voltage with a fourth pulsating waveform, and send thevoltage with the fourth pulsating waveform to the current samplingcontroller 13 as the synchronous signal. The optical coupling unit 21may play a function of isolating interference between the primary sideand the secondary side. As an alternative way, the primary unit 18 maydirectly send the voltage with the third pulsating waveform to thecurrent sampling controller 13 without passing through the opticalcoupling unit 21, which is not limited in embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

In the above, the way for obtaining the synchronous signal from thepower converter 11 is described in detail with reference to specificembodiments. However, the way for obtaining the synchronous signal isnot limited to this, and other ways for obtaining the synchronous signalare illustrated in the following.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the current sampling controller 13may obtain the synchronous signal from the sampling and holding unit 12.

In detail, the sampling and holding unit 12 may sample the outputcurrent of the second adapter, i.e., the current with the firstpulsating waveform, to obtain the sampling current. The sampling currentobtained by the sampling and holding unit 12, or signals such as thesampling voltage corresponding to the sampling current have a same cycleand phase as the current with the first pulsating waveform. Using thesampling current or sampling voltage as the synchronous signal maysimplify the logic of determining the working state of the sampling andholding unit 12.

In general, the sampling and holding unit 12 will sample the currentwith the first pulsating waveform to obtain the sampling current, andconvert the sampling current into the sampling voltage. The samplingvoltage may be used to indicate the magnitude of the current with thefirst pulsating waveform. The sampling and holding unit 12 may send thesampling voltage to the current sampling controller 13 as thesynchronous signal. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 21, the voltagesignal outputted from the output port (OUTPUT) of the galvanometer maybe used as the synchronous signal.

In the above, the way for obtaining the synchronous signal has beendescribed in detail. In the following, the way for determining whetherthe first pulsating waveform is at the peak value or in the falling edgebased on the synchronous signal will be described in detail withreference to specific embodiments.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the current sampling controller 13determines whether the first pulsating waveform is at the peak value orin the falling edge based on the synchronous signal, and samples thepeak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform held by thesampling and holding unit 12 when determining that the first pulsatingwaveform is at the peak value or in the falling edge.

In detail, the sampling and holding unit 12 may switch between thesampling state and the holding state based on charging and dischargingof the capacitor. When the first pulsating waveform is in the risingedge, the capacitor in the sampling and holding unit 12 is in thecharging state, the voltage across both ends of the capacitor increaseswith the current with the first pulsating waveform, and at this time,the sampling and holding unit 12 is in the sampling state. When thefirst pulsating waveform is at the peak value or in the falling edge,the voltage across both ends of the capacitor does not increase anymore,and at this time, the sampling and holding unit 12 is in the holdingstate. Thus, by determining when the first pulsating waveform is at thepeak value or in the falling edge, when the sampling and holding unit 12is in the holding state can be determined. Since there is a fixedrelationship between the phase and cycle of the synchronous signal andthe phase and cycle of the first pulsating waveform, whether the firstpulsating waveform is at the peak value or in the falling edge can bedetermined based on the phase and/or cycle of the synchronous signal.For example, the synchronous signal is in phase with the first pulsatingwaveform, and when the synchronous signal is at the peak value or in thefalling edge, the first pulsating waveform is at the peak value or inthe falling edge. For another example, the cycle of the synchronoussignal is the same as the cycle of the first pulsating waveform, and thephase difference between the synchronous signal and the first pulsatingwaveform is a half cycle, and when the synchronous signal is in therising edge, the first pulsating waveform is at the peak value or in thefalling edge.

There may be many ways for detecting the phase of the synchronoussignal. For example, the current or voltage of the synchronous signalmay be detected in real time by an amperemeter or a voltmeter, such thatthe phase of the synchronous signal is determined, and further whetherthe first pulsating waveform is at the peak value or in the falling edgeis determined. However, this way needs an additional current and voltagedetecting circuit, which is complicated to implement. In the following,two implementations based on a comparator are described, which maycompare the voltage of the synchronous signal with a reference voltage,so as to conveniently determine whether the first pulsating waveform isat the peak value or in the falling edge.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 10, thecurrent sampling controller 13 may include a comparator 22 and a controlunit 23. A first input end of the comparator 22 is configured to receivethe synchronous signal, and a second input end of the comparator 22 isconfigured to receive a reference voltage. The control unit 23 iscoupled to an output end of the comparator 22, and configured todetermine whether the first pulsating waveform is at the peak value orin the falling edge based on a comparison result between the voltage ofthe synchronous signal and the reference voltage. In some embodiments,the first input end is a non-inverting input end of the comparator, andthe second input end is an inverting input end of the comparator. Inother embodiments, the first input end is the inverting input end of thecomparator, and the second input end is the non-inverting input end ofthe comparator.

It should be understood that, in embodiments of the present disclosure,the way for selecting the voltage value of the reference voltage is notlimited. Taking the synchronous signal being a pulsating signal at zerocrossing point as an example, the voltage value of the reference voltagemay be selected as a certain value greater than zero and less than thepeak value of the synchronous signal. Taking the synchronous signalbeing the alternating current signal as an example, the voltage value ofthe reference voltage may be selected as zero.

Moreover, in embodiments of the present disclosure, the way fordetermining whether the first pulsating waveform is at the peak value orin the falling edge based on the comparison result between the voltageof the synchronous signal and the reference voltage is not limited. Thisdetermining is related to the cycle and phase of the synchronous signaland the cycle and phase of the first pulsating waveform. In thefollowing, with reference to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, and taking the cycleof the synchronous signal being the same as the cycle of the firstpulsating waveform as an example, the way for determining the peak valueor falling edge of the first pulsating waveform is illustrated. Inembodiments of FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the current sampling controller 13samples the peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveformheld by the sampling and holding unit in each cycle of the firstpulsating waveform. After the sampling is completed, the currentsampling controller 13 immediately provides the control voltage to a MOStransistor in the discharging unit, controls the MOS transistor in thedischarging unit to switch on, and releases the charges in the capacitorof the sampling and holding unit 12. However, FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 aremerely examples, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Forexample, the current sampling controller 13 may sample the peak value ofthe current with the first pulsating waveform once every multiplecycles. In addition, the discharging unit may be implemented in waysother than using the MOS transistor, for example, the discharging unitmay be controlled to switch on and off by using other types of switches.

In the embodiment of FIG. 11, the synchronous signal is in phase withthe first pulsating waveform (the pulsating waveform after the peakclipping process). It can be seen from FIG. 11 that, since thesynchronous signal is in phase with the first pulsating waveform, thefirst pulsating waveform is at the peak value or in the falling edgewhen the synchronous signal is at the peak value or in the falling edge.Thus, as long as when the synchronous signal is at the peak value or inthe falling edge is determined, when the first pulsating waveform is atthe peak value or in the falling edge can be obtained.

Further, in order to determine when the synchronous signal is at thepeak value or in the falling edge, a comparator is introduced in theembodiment of FIG. 11. The comparator obtains a changing curve of anoutput level of itself (i.e., the rectangular wave as illustrated inFIG. 11) by comparing the voltage values of the synchronous signal andthe reference voltage. It can be seen from the rectangular wave that, atthe moment when the output level of the comparator switches to the lowlevel from the high level (hereinafter, referred to as the targetmoment), the first pulsating waveform is in the falling edge. At thismoment, the capacitor in the sampling and holding unit 12 is in theholding state. Thus, in embodiments of the present disclosure, thetarget moment is used as the peak value sampling point, the currentsampling controller 13 is controlled to sample the voltage across bothends of the capacitor in the sampling and holding unit 12, and furtherthe peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform isobtained. After the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform is sampled, the MOS transistor in the discharging unit isimmediately controlled to switch on, such that the charge in thecapacitor of the sampling and holding unit 12 is released, and thesampling in a next cycle is prepared.

In the embodiment of FIG. 12, the phase difference between thesynchronous signal and the first pulsating waveform is 180 degree, andthe first pulsating waveform is subjected to the peak clipping process.It can be seen from FIG. 12 that, since the phase difference between thesynchronous signal and the first pulsating waveform is 180 degree, thefirst pulsating waveform is at the peak value or in the falling edgewhen the synchronous signal is at the peak value or in the rising edge.Thus, as long as when the synchronous signal is at the peak value or inthe rising edge is determined, when the first pulsating waveform is atthe peak value or in the falling edge can be obtained.

Further, in order to determine when the synchronous signal is at thepeak value or in the rising edge, a comparator is introduced into theembodiment of FIG. 12. The comparator obtains a changing curve of anoutput level of itself (i.e., the rectangular wave as illustrated inFIG. 12) by comparing the voltage values of the synchronous signal andthe reference voltage. It can be seen from the rectangular wave that, atthe moment when the output level of the comparator switches to the highlevel from the low level (hereinafter, referred to as the targetmoment), the first pulsating waveform is in the falling edge. At thismoment, the capacitor in the sampling and holding unit 12 is in theholding state. Thus, in embodiments of the present disclosure, thetarget moment is used as the peak value sampling point, the currentsampling controller 13 is controlled to sample the voltage across bothends of the capacitor in the sampling and holding unit 12, and furtherthe peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform isobtained. After the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform is sampled, the MOS transistor in the discharging unit isimmediately controlled to switch on, such that the charge in thecapacitor of the sampling and holding unit 12 is released, and thesampling in a next cycle is prepared.

Alternatively, in other embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 13, thecurrent sampling controller 13 may include a comparing unit 24 and acontrol unit 25. The comparing unit 24 may include a capacitor 26 and acomparator 27. The capacitor 26 is configured to receive the synchronoussignal, and to filter out a direct current signal in the synchronoussignal to obtain an alternating current signal at zero crossing point. Afirst input end of the comparator 27 is coupled to the capacitor 26, andis configured to receive the alternating current signal. A second inputend of the comparator 27 is configured to receive the reference voltage.The comparator 27 is configured to compare the voltage of thealternating current signal with the reference voltage. The control unit25 is coupled to an output end of the comparator 27, and is configuredto determine whether the first pulsating waveform is at the peak valueor in the falling edge based on the comparison result between thevoltage of the alternating current signal and the reference voltage.Further, in embodiments of the present disclosure, the voltage value ofthe reference voltage can be set to zero. In some embodiments, the firstinput end is a non-inverting input end of the comparator, and the secondinput end is an inverting input end of the comparator. In otherembodiments, the first input end is the inverting input end of thecomparator, and the second input end is the non-inverting input end ofthe comparator.

Taking the synchronous signal being a signal with a pulsating waveformas an example, the signal with the pulsating waveform can be regarded asbeing formed of a direct current signal (direct current component) andan alternating current signal at zero crossing point (alternatingcurrent component). The capacitor 26 can filter out the direct currentsignal in the signal with the pulsating waveform, and the alternatingcurrent signal at zero crossing point remains. In this implementation,by setting the reference voltage of the comparator 27 to zero (forexample, the second input end of the comparator is grounded), the phaseof the synchronous signal can be determined easily.

Further, in embodiments of the present disclosure, there are many waysfor determining whether the first pulsating waveform is at the peakvalue or in the falling edge based on the alternating current signal andthe reference voltage, which are related to the cycle and phase of thealternating current signal and the cycle and phase of the firstpulsating waveform. Detailed determining is similar to that describedwith reference to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, and will not be elaborated here.

In the above, the way for obtaining the peak value of the current withthe first pulsating waveform has been described in detail. In thefollowing, the way for controlling the charging process based on theobtained peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveformwill be described in detail with reference to specific embodiments.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 14, thesecond adapter 10 may further include a voltage adjusting unit 28. Thevoltage adjusting unit 28 is coupled to the power converter 11, and isconfigured to detect and adjust the output voltage of the second adapter10. The current sampling controller 13 is coupled to the voltageadjusting unit 28. The peak value of the current with the firstpulsating waveform is adjusted by the voltage adjusting unit 28.

It should be understood that, the basic function of the voltageadjusting unit 28 is to adjust the output voltage of the second adapter.In detail, the voltage adjusting unit 28 may detect the output voltageof the second adapter 10 via the power converter 11, and adjust theoutput voltage of the second adapter 10 via the power converter 11. Inother words, the voltage adjusting unit 28 and the power converter 11form a feedback control system of the output voltage of the secondadapter, in which the feedback control system may be referred to as avoltage feedback loop. It should be understood that, when the outputpower of the second adapter is fixed, adjusting the voltage will causechanging of the current. Thus, in embodiments of the present disclosure,after sampling the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform, the current sampling controller 13 may utilize the abovevoltage feedback loop to realize adjusting the current. For example,after the current sampling controller 13 samples the peak value of thecurrent with the first pulsating waveform, if the current samplingcontroller 13 wishes to adjust the sampled peak value of the currentwith the first pulsating waveform to a target peak value, the currentsampling controller 13 may calculate a target value of the outputvoltage of the second adapter 10 corresponding to the target peak valuevia software, and then adjust the output voltage of the second adapter10 to the target value by using the voltage feedback loop.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the current samplingcontroller 13 and the voltage feedback loop form the feedback controlsystem for the peak value of the output current of the second adapter10. The feedback control system is also referred to as the currentfeedback loop. In other words, in embodiments of the present disclosure,it does not only include the voltage feedback loop (implemented byhardware), but also include the current feedback loop (based on thevoltage feedback loop, and implemented by software calculation), suchthat the second adapter cannot only realize controlling the outputvoltage of the second adapter, but can also realize controlling theoutput current of the second adapter, which riches the functions of thesecond adapter, and improves the intelligence degree of the secondadapter.

There may be many ways for the current sampling controller 13 to adjustthe peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform via thevoltage adjusting unit 28. In the following, examples are illustratedwith reference to FIG. 15 and FIG. 17.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 15, thevoltage adjusting unit 28 may include a voltage sampling unit 29, avoltage comparing unit 30 and a voltage control unit 31. The voltagesampling unit 29 is coupled to the power converter 11, and is configuredto sample the output voltage of the second adapter 10 to obtain a firstvoltage. An input end of the voltage comparing unit 30 is coupled to thevoltage sampling unit 29, and the voltage comparing unit 30 isconfigured to compare the first voltage with a first reference voltage.An input end of the voltage control unit 31 is coupled to an output endof the voltage comparing unit 30. An output end of the voltage controlunit 31 is coupled to the power converter 11. The voltage control unit31 controls the output voltage of the second adapter 10 according to thecomparison result of the first voltage and the first reference voltage.The current sampling controller 13 is coupled to the voltage comparingunit 30, and is configured to adjust the peak value of the current withthe first pulsating waveform by adjusting the voltage value of the firstreference voltage.

In detail, the input end of the voltage sampling unit 29 may be coupledto the bus (VBUS) of the second adapter, for sampling the output voltageof the second adapter. In some embodiments, the voltage sampling unit 29may be a wire. In this way, the first voltage sampled by the voltagesampling unit 29 is the output voltage of the second adapter. In otherembodiments, the voltage sampling unit 29 may include two resistorsconfigured for voltage division. In this way, the first voltage sampledby the voltage sampling unit 29 is the voltage obtained after voltagedivision by the two resistors. The voltage comparing unit 30 isimplemented by an operational amplifier. One input end of theoperational amplifier is configured to receive the first voltageinputted by the voltage sampling unit 29, and the other input end of theoperational amplifier is configured to receive the first referencevoltage. An output end of the operational amplifier is configured togenerate a voltage feedback signal, for indicating whether the firstvoltage is equal to the first reference voltage. The voltage controlunit 31 may be implemented based on elements such as an optical couplingelement and a PWM controller, and may adjust the output voltage of thesecond adapter based on the voltage feedback signal provided by thevoltage comparing unit 30. When the output power of the second adapteris fixed, the current sampling controller 13 may calculate the expectedvalue of the output voltage of the second adapter based on the expectedpeak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform. Then, byadjusting the voltage value of the first reference voltage, the outputvoltage of the second adapter is adjusted to the expected value of theoutput voltage of the second adapter, such that the peak value of thecurrent with the first pulsating waveform is adjusted to the expectedpeak value.

There may be many ways for the current sampling controller 13 to adjustthe voltage value of the first reference voltage. Alternatively, in anembodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 16, the current sampling controller13 may include a control unit 32 and a DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter)33. An input end of the DAC 33 is coupled to the control unit 32, and anoutput end of the DAC 33 is coupled to the voltage comparing unit 30.The control unit 32 adjusts the voltage value of the first referencevoltage via the DAC 33, so as to adjust the peak value of the currentwith the first pulsating waveform. Alternatively, in another embodiment,the control unit 32 may adjust the voltage value of the first referencevoltage via circuits such as an RC unit and a digital potentiometer,which is not limited in embodiments of the present disclosure.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 17, thevoltage adjusting unit 28 may include a voltage dividing unit 34, avoltage comparing unit 30 and a voltage control unit 31. An input end ofthe voltage dividing unit 34 is coupled to the power converter 11. Thevoltage dividing unit 34 is configured to perform voltage division onthe output voltage of the second adapter 10 based on a preset voltagedivision ratio to obtain a second voltage. An input end of the voltagecomparing unit 30 is coupled to an output end of the voltage dividingunit 34. The voltage comparing unit 30 is configured to compare thesecond voltage with a second reference voltage. An input end of thevoltage control unit 31 is coupled to the input end of the voltagecomparing unit 30. An output end of the voltage control unit 31 iscoupled to the power converter 11. The voltage control unit 31 controlsthe output voltage of the second adapter 10 according to the comparisonresult of the second voltage and the second reference voltage. Thecurrent sampling controller 13 is coupled to the voltage comparing unit30, and is configured to adjust the peak value of the current with thefirst pulsating waveform by adjusting the voltage division ratio.

This embodiment is similar to the embodiment of FIG. 15, and thedifference lies in that the voltage dividing unit is introduced in thisembodiment. The voltage division ratio of the voltage dividing unit isadjustable. Further, in this embodiment, the current sampling controller13 does not adjust the peak value of the current with the firstpulsating waveform by adjusting the reference voltage of the voltagecomparing unit 30. Instead, the current sampling controller 13 adjuststhe peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform byadjusting the voltage division ratio of the voltage dividing unit 34. Inthis embodiment, based on the voltage dividing unit, it does not onlyrealize sampling the output voltage of the second adapter, but alsorealize adjusting the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform, which simplifies the circuit structure of the second adapter.

It should be understood that, in this embodiment, since the peak valueof the current with the first pulsating waveform is adjusted byadjusting the voltage division ratio of the voltage dividing unit, thereference voltage of the voltage comparing unit (i.e., the secondreference voltage) may be a fixed value.

There are many ways for implementing the voltage dividing unit 34 inembodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the above voltagedivision function and the function of adjusting the voltage divisionratio can be achieved by the digital potentiometer or by elements suchas separate resistors and switches.

Taking the digital potentiometer as an example, as illustrated in FIG.18, the current sampling controller 13 includes a control unit 32, andthe voltage dividing unit 34 includes a digital potentiometer 35. A highlevel end of the digital potentiometer 35 is coupled to the powerconverter 11. A low level end of the digital potentiometer 35 isgrounded. An output end of the digital potentiometer 35 is coupled tothe voltage comparing unit 30. The control unit 32 is coupled to acontrol end of the digital potentiometer 35, and is configured to adjustthe voltage division ratio of the digital potentiometer 35 via thecontrol end of the digital potentiometer 35, so as to adjust the peakvalue of the current with the first pulsating waveform.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the second adapter 10 may support afirst charging mode and a second charging mode. The charging speed ofthe second adapter 10 charging the device to be charged (such as theterminal) in the second charging mode is greater than the charging speedof the second adapter 10 charging the device to be charged (such as theterminal) in the first charging mode (the above current with the firstpulsating waveform may be the output current of the second adapter inthe second charging mode). In other words, compared to the secondadapter 10 working in the first charging mode, the second adapter 10working in the second charging mode can fully charge the battery havingthe same capacity in the device to be charged (such as the terminal) ina shorter time.

The second adapter 10 includes a control unit. During the connection ofthe second adapter 10 and the device to be charged (such as theterminal), the control unit performs a bidirectional communication withthe device to be charged (such as the terminal), thus controlling thecharging process of the second charging mode.

The first charging mode can be a normal charging mode and the secondcharging mode can be a quick charging mode. Under the normal chargingmode, the second adapter outputs a relatively small current (typicallyless than 2.5 A) or charges the battery in the device to be charged(such as the terminal) with a relatively small power (typically lessthan 15 W). In the normal charging mode, it may take several hours tofully charge a larger capacity battery (such as a battery with 3000mAh). In contrast, under the quick charging mode, the second adapter canoutput a relatively large current (typically greater than 2.5 A, such as4.5 A, 5 A or higher) or charges the battery in the device to be charged(such as the terminal) with a relatively large power (typically greaterthan or equal to 15 W). Compared to the normal charging mode, thecharging speed of the second adapter in the quick charging mode isfaster, and the charging time required for fully charging a battery withthe same capacity in the quick charging mode may be significantlyshortened.

The content communicated between the control unit of the second adapterand the device to be charged (such as the terminal) is not limited inembodiments of the present disclosure, and the control manner of thecontrol unit on the output of the second adapter in the second chargingmode is also not limited in embodiments of the present disclosure. Forexample, the control unit may communicate with the device to be charged(such as the terminal) to exchange the present voltage or the presentelectric quantity of the battery in the device to be charged (such asthe terminal), and adjust the output voltage or output current of thesecond adapter based on the present voltage or the present electricquantity of the battery. In the following, the content communicatedbetween the control unit and the device to be charged (such as theterminal) and the control manner of the control unit on the output ofthe second adapter in the second charging mode will be described indetail in combination with specific embodiments.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the control unit performs thebidirectional communication with the device to be charged (such as theterminal) to control the output of the second adapter in the secondcharging mode as follows. The control unit performs the bidirectionalcommunication with the device to be charged (such as the terminal) tonegotiate the charging mode between the second adapter and the device tobe charged (such as the terminal).

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the second adapter does notquickly charge the device to be charged (such as the terminal) in thesecond charging mode blindly. Instead, the second adapter performs thebidirectional communication with the device to be charged (such as theterminal) to negotiate whether the second adapter can quickly charge thedevice to be charged (such as the terminal) in the second charging mode,thus improving the safety of the charging process.

In detail, the control unit performs the bidirectional communicationwith the device to be charged (such as the terminal) to negotiate thecharging mode between the second adapter and the device to be charged(such as the terminal) as follows. The control unit sends a firstinstruction to the device to be charged (such as the terminal), in whichthe first instruction is configured to query the device to be charged(such as the terminal) whether to operate in the second charging mode.The control unit receives a reply instruction of the first instructionfrom the device to be charged (such as the terminal), in which the replyinstruction of the first instruction is configured to indicate whetherthe device to be charged (such as the terminal) agrees to operate in thesecond charging mode. The control unit charges the device to be charged(such as the terminal) in the second charging mode when the device to becharged (such as the terminal) agrees to operate in the second chargingmode.

The master-slave relation of the second adapter (or the control unit ofthe second adapter) and the device to be charged (such as the terminal)is not limited in embodiments of the present disclosure. In other words,any of the control unit and the device to be charged (such as theterminal) can be configured as the master device initiating thebidirectional communication session, accordingly, the other one can beconfigured as the slave device making a first response or a first replyto the communication initiated by the master device. As a feasibleimplementation, during the communication, the identifications of themaster device and the slave device can be determined by comparing theelectrical levels of the second adapter and the device to be charged(such as the terminal) relative to the ground.

The specific implementation of the bidirectional communication betweenthe second adapter (or the control unit of the second adapter) and thedevice to be charged (such as the terminal) is not limited inembodiments of the present disclosure. In other words, any of the secondadapter (or the control unit of the second adapter) and the device to becharged (such as the terminal) can be configured as the master deviceinitiating the communication session, accordingly, the other one can beconfigured as the slave device making a first response or a first replyto the communication session initiated by the master device, and themaster device is able to make a second response to the first response orthe first reply of the slave device, and thus a negotiation about acharging mode can be realized between the master device and the slavedevice. As a feasible implementation, a charging operation between themaster device and the slave device is performed after a plurality ofnegotiations about the charging mode are completed between the masterdevice and the slave device, such that the charging process can beperformed safely and reliably after the negotiation.

As an implementation, the mater device is able to make a second responseto the first response or the first reply made by the slave device withregard to the communication session in a manner that, the master deviceis able to receive the first response or the first reply made by theslave device to the communication session and to make a targeted secondresponse to the first response or the first reply. As an example, whenthe master device receives the first response or the first reply made bythe slave device to the communication session in a predetermined timeperiod, the master device makes the targeted second response to thefirst response or the first reply of the slave device in a manner that,the master device and the slave device complete one negotiation aboutthe charging mode, and a charging process may be performed between themaster device and the salve device in the first charging mode or thesecond charging mode according to a negotiation result, i.e., the secondadapter charges the device to be charged (such as the terminal) in thefirst charging mode or the second charging mode according to anegotiation result.

As another implementation, the mater device is able to make a secondresponse to the first response or the first reply made by the slavedevice to the communication session in a manner that, when the masterdevice does not receive the first response or the first reply made bythe slave device to the communication session in the predetermined timeperiod, the mater device also makes the targeted second response to thefirst response or the first reply of the slave device. As an example,when the master device does not receive the first response or the firstreply made by the slave device to the communication session in thepredetermined time period, the mater device makes the targeted secondresponse to the first response or the first reply of the slave device ina manner that, the master device and the slave device complete onenegotiation about the charging mode, the charging process is performedbetween the mater device and the slave device in the first chargingmode, i.e., the second adapter charges the device to be charged (such asthe terminal) in the first charging mode.

In some embodiments, when the device to be charged (such as theterminal) is configured as the mater device initiating the communicationsession, after the second adapter (or the control unit of the secondadapter) configured as the slave device makes the first response or thefirst reply to the communication session initiated by the master device,it is unnecessary for the device to be charged (such as the terminal) tomake the targeted second response to the first response or the firstreply of the second adapter, one negotiation about the charging mode isregarded as completed between the second adapter (or the control unit ofthe second adapter) and the device to be charged (such as the terminal),and the second adapter is able to charge the device to be charged (suchas the terminal) in the first charging mode or the second charging modeaccording to the negotiation result.

In some embodiments, the control unit performs the bidirectionalcommunication with the device to be charged (such as the terminal) tocontrol the output of the second adapter in the second charging mode asfollows. The control unit performs the bidirectional communication withthe device to be charged (such as the terminal) to determine a chargingvoltage outputted by the second adapter in the second charging mode forcharging the device to be charged (such as the terminal). The controlunit adjusts the output voltage of the second adapter, such that theoutput voltage of the second adapter is equal to the charging voltageoutputted by the second adapter in the second charging mode for chargingthe device to be charged (such as the terminal).

In detail, the control unit performs the bidirectional communicationwith the device to be charged (such as the terminal) to determine thecharging voltage outputted by the second adapter in the second chargingmode for charging the device to be charged (such as the terminal) asfollows. The control unit sends a second instruction to the device to becharged (such as the terminal), in which the second instruction isconfigured to query whether the output voltage of the second adaptermatches with a present voltage of a battery of the device to be charged(such as the terminal). The control unit receives a reply instruction ofthe second instruction sent from the device to be charged (such as theterminal), in which the reply instruction of the second instruction isconfigured to indicate that the output voltage of the second adaptermatches with the present voltage of the battery, or is lower or higherthan the present voltage of the battery. In another embodiment, thesecond instruction can be configured to query whether the present outputvoltage of the second adapter is suitable for being used as the chargingvoltage outputted by the second adapter in the second charging mode forcharging the device to be charged (such as the terminal), and the replyinstruction of the second instruction can be configured to indicate thepresent output voltage of the second adapter is suitable, high or low.When the present output voltage of the second adapter matches with thepresent voltage of the battery or the present output voltage of thesecond adapter is suitable for being used as the charging voltageoutputted by the second adapter in the second charging mode for chargingthe device to be charged (such as the terminal), it indicates that thepresent output voltage of the second adapter is slightly higher than thepresent voltage of the battery, and a difference between the outputvoltage of the second adapter and the present voltage of the battery iswithin a predetermined range (typically in an order of hundreds ofmillivolts).

In some embodiments, the control unit may perform the bidirectionalcommunication with the device to be charged (such as the terminal) tocontrol the output of the second adapter in the second charging mode asfollows. The control unit performs the bidirectional communication withthe device to be charged (such as the terminal) to determine thecharging current outputted by the second adapter in the second chargingmode for charging the device to be charged (such as the terminal). Thecontrol unit adjusts the peak value of the current with the firstpulsating waveform, such that the peak value of the current with thefirst pulsating waveform is equal to the charging current outputted bythe second adapter in the second charging mode for charging the deviceto be charged.

In detail, the control unit may perform the bidirectional communicationwith the device to be charged (such as the terminal) to determine thecharging current outputted by the second adapter in the second chargingmode for charging the device to be charged (such as the terminal) asfollows. The control unit sends a third instruction to the device to becharged (such as the terminal), in which the third instruction isconfigured to query a maximum charging current presently supported bythe device to be charged (such as the terminal). The control unitreceives a reply instruction of the third instruction sent from thedevice to be charged (such as the terminal), in which the replyinstruction of the third instruction is configured to indicate themaximum charging current presently supported by the device to be charged(such as the terminal). The control unit determines the charging currentoutputted by the second adapter in the second charging mode for chargingthe device to be charged (such as the terminal) according to the maximumcharging current presently supported by the device to be charged (suchas the terminal). In an embodiment, the control unit can determine thecharging current outputted by the second adapter in the second chargingmode for charging the device to be charged (such as the terminal) basedon the maximum charging current presently supported by the device to becharged (such as the terminal) in many ways. For example, the secondadapter can determine the maximum charging current presently supportedby the device to be charged (such as the terminal) as the chargingcurrent outputted by the second adapter in the second charging mode forcharging the device to be charged (such as the terminal), or candetermine the charging current outputted by the second adapter in thesecond charging mode for charging the device to be charged (such as theterminal) after comprehensively considering the maximum charging currentpresently supported by the device to be charged (such as the terminal)and its own current output capability.

In some embodiments, the control unit can perform the bidirectionalcommunication with the device to be charged (such as the terminal) tocontrol the output of the second adapter in the second charging mode asfollows. During the second adapter charges the device to be charged(such as the terminal) in the second charging mode, the control unitperforms the bidirectional communication with the device to be charged(such as the terminal) to adjust the peak value of the current with thefirst pulsating waveform.

In detail, the control unit can perform the bidirectional communicationwith the device to be charged (such as the terminal) to adjust the peakvalue of the current with the first pulsating waveform as follows. Thecontrol unit sends a fourth instruction to the device to be charged(such as the terminal), in which the fourth instruction is configured toquery a present voltage of the battery in the device to be charged (suchas the terminal). The control unit receives a reply instruction of thefourth instruction sent by the second adapter, in which the replyinstruction of the fourth instruction is configured to indicate thepresent voltage of the battery. The control unit adjusts the peak valueof the current with the first pulsating waveform according to thepresent voltage of the battery.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 19A, the second adapter 10includes a charging interface 191. Further, in some embodiments, thecontrol unit (MCU as illustrated in FIG. 21) in the second adapter 10can perform the bidirectional communication with the device to becharged (such as the terminal) via the data wire 192 of the charginginterface 191.

In some embodiments, the control unit may perform the bidirectionalcommunication with the device to be charged (such as the terminal) tocontrol the output of the second adapter in the second charging mode asfollows. The control unit performs the bidirectional communication withthe device to be charged (such as the terminal) to determine whether thecharging interface is in poor contact.

In detail, the control unit can perform the bidirectional communicationwith the device to be charged (such as the terminal) to determinewhether the charging interface is in poor contact as follows. Thecontrol unit sends a fourth instruction to the device to be charged(such as the terminal), in which the fourth instruction is configured toquery a present voltage of the battery in the device to be charged (suchas the terminal). The control unit receives a reply instruction of thefourth instruction sent by the device to be charged (such as theterminal), in which the reply instruction of the fourth instruction isconfigured to indicate the present voltage of the battery in the deviceto be charged (such as the terminal). The control unit determineswhether the charging interface is in poor contact according to theoutput voltage of the second adapter and the present voltage of thebattery in the device to be charged (such as the terminal). For example,when the control unit determines that a voltage difference between theoutput voltage of the second adapter and the present voltage of thedevice to be charged (such as the terminal) is greater than a presetvoltage threshold, it indicates that an impedance obtained by dividingthe voltage difference by the present current value outputted by thesecond adapter is greater than a preset impedance threshold, and thus itcan be determined that the charging interface is in poor contact.

In some embodiments, whether the charging interface is in poor contactcan be determined by the device to be charged (such as the terminal).The device to be charged (such as the terminal) sends a sixthinstruction to the control unit, in which the sixth instruction isconfigured to query the output voltage of the second adapter. The deviceto be charged (such as the terminal) receives a reply instruction of thesixth instruction (such as the terminal) sent by the control unit, inwhich the reply instruction of the sixth instruction is configured toindicate the output voltage of the second adapter. The device to becharged (such as the terminal) determines whether the charging interfaceis in poor contact according to the present voltage of the battery inthe device to be charged (such as the terminal) and the output voltageof the second adapter. After the device to be charged (such as theterminal) determines that the charging interface is in poor contact, thedevice to be charged (such as the terminal) sends a fifth instruction tothe control unit, the fifth instruction is configured to indicate thatthe charging interface is in poor contact. After receiving the fifthinstruction, the control unit can control the second adapter to quit thesecond charging mode.

Referring to FIG. 19B, the communication procedure between the controlunit of the second adapter and the device to be charged (such as theterminal) will be described in detail. In an embodiment, examples inFIG. 19B are merely used to help those skilled in the related artunderstand the present disclosure. The embodiments shall not be limitedto the specific numeric values or specific scenes. Apparently, variousmodifications and equivalents can be made by those skilled in therelated art based on examples in FIG. 19B, and those modifications andequivalents shall fall within the protection scope of the presentinvention.

As illustrated in FIG. 19B, the charging process in which the output ofthe second adapter charges the device to be charged (such as theterminal) in the second charging mode may include the following fivestages.

Stage 1:

After the device to be charged (such as the terminal) is coupled with apower supply providing device, the device to be charged (such as theterminal) may detect a type of the power supply providing device via thedata wires D+ and D−. When detecting that the power supply providingdevice is the second adapter, the device to be charged (such as theterminal) may absorb a current greater than a predetermined currentthreshold I2, such as 1A. When the control unit in the second adapterdetects that the output current of the second adapter is greater than orequal to I2 within a predetermined time period (such as a continuoustime period T1), the control unit determines that the device to becharged (such as the terminal) has completed the recognition of the typeof the power supply providing device. The control unit initiates anegotiation between the second adapter and the device to be charged(such as the terminal), and sends an instruction 1 (corresponding to theabove-mentioned first instruction) to the device to be charged (such asthe terminal) to query whether the device to be charged (such as theterminal) agrees that the second adapter charges the device to becharged (such as the terminal) in the second charging mode.

When the control unit receives a reply instruction of the instruction 1sent from the device to be charged (such as the terminal) and the replyinstruction of the instruction 1 indicates that the device to be charged(such as the terminal) disagrees that the second adapter charges thedevice to be charged (such as the terminal) in the second charging mode,the control unit detects the output current of the second adapter again.When the output current of the second adapter is still greater than orequal to I2 within a predetermined continuous time period (such as acontinuous time period T1), the control unit sends the instruction 1again to the device to be charged (such as the terminal) to querywhether the device to be charged (such as the terminal) agrees that thesecond adapter charges the device to be charged (such as the terminal)in the second charging mode. The control unit repeats the above actionsin stage 1, until the device to be charged (such as the terminal) agreesthat the second adapter charges the device to be charged (such as theterminal) in the second charging mode or the output current of thesecond adapter is no longer greater than or equal to I2.

After the device to be charged (such as the terminal) agrees the secondadapter to charge the device to be charged (such as the terminal) in thesecond charging mode, the communication procedure proceeds to stage 2.

Stage 2:

For the output voltage of the second adapter, there may be severallevels. The control unit sends an instruction 2 (corresponding to theabove-mentioned second instruction) to the device to be charged (such asthe terminal) to query whether the output voltage (the present outputvoltage) of the second adapter matches with the present voltage of thebattery in the device to be charged (such as the terminal).

The device to be charged (such as the terminal) sends a replyinstruction of the instruction 2 to the control unit, for indicatingthat the output voltage of the second adapter matches with, or is higheror lower than the present voltage of the battery in the device to becharged (such as the terminal). When the reply instruction of theinstruction 2 indicates that the output voltage of the adapter ishigher, or lower, the control unit can adjust the output voltage of thesecond adapter by one level, and sends the instruction 2 to the deviceto be charged (such as the terminal) again to query whether the outputvoltage of the second adapter matches with the present voltage of thebattery in the device to be charged (such as the terminal). The aboveactions in stage 2 are repeated, until the device to be charged (such asthe terminal) determines that the output voltage of the second adaptermatches with the present voltage of the battery in the device to becharged (such as the terminal). Then, the communication procedureproceeds to stage 3.

Stage 3:

The control unit sends an instruction 3 (corresponding to theabove-mentioned third instruction) to the device to be charged (such asthe terminal) to query the maximum charging current presently supportedby the device to be charged (such as the terminal). The device to becharged (such as the terminal) sends a reply instruction of theinstruction 3 to the control unit for indicating the maximum chargingcurrent presently supported by the device to be charged (such as theterminal), and then the communication procedure proceeds to stage 4.

Stage 4:

The control unit determines the charging current outputted by the secondadapter in the second charging mode for charging the device to becharged (such as the terminal), according to the maximum chargingcurrent presently supported by the device to be charged (such as theterminal). Then, the communication procedure proceeds to stage 5, i.e.,the constant current charging stage.

Stage 5:

When the communication procedure proceeds to the constant currentcharging stage, the control unit sends an instruction 4 (correspondingto the above-mentioned fourth instruction) to the device to be charged(such as the terminal) at intervals to query the present voltage of thebattery in the device to be charged (such as the terminal). The deviceto be charged (such as the terminal) may send a reply instruction of theinstruction 4 to the control unit, to feedback the present voltage ofthe battery in the device to be charged (such as the terminal). Thecontrol unit may determine according to the present voltage of thebattery in the device to be charged (such as the terminal) whether thecharging interface is in poor contact and whether it is necessary tostep down the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform. When the second adapter determines that the charging interfaceis in poor contact, the second adapter sends an instruction 5(corresponding to the above-mentioned fifth instruction) to the deviceto be charged (such as the terminal), and the second adapter quits thesecond charging mode and then the communication procedure is reset andproceeds to stage 1 again.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in stage 1, when thedevice to be charged (such as the terminal) sends the reply instructionof the instruction 1, the reply instruction of the instruction 1 maycarry data (or information) of the path impedance of the device to becharged (such as the terminal). The data of the path impedance of thedevice to be charged (such as the terminal) may be used in stage 5 todetermine whether the charging interface is in poor contact.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in stage 2, the timeperiod from when the device to be charged (such as the terminal) agreesthat the second adapter charges the device to be charged (such as theterminal) in the second charging mode to when the control unit adjuststhe output voltage of the second adapter to a suitable value may becontrolled in a certain range. If the time period exceeds apredetermined range, the second adapter or the device to be charged(such as the terminal) may determine that the communication procedure isabnormal, and is reset and proceeds to stage 1.

In some embodiments, in stage 2, when the output voltage of the secondadapter is higher than the present voltage of the battery in the deviceto be charged (such as the terminal) by ΔV (ΔV may be set to 200-500mV), the device to be charged (such as the terminal) may send a replyinstruction of the instruction 2 to the control unit, for indicatingthat the output voltage of the second adapter matches with the voltageof the battery in the device to be charged (such as the terminal).

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in stage 4, the adjustingspeed of the output current of the second adapter may be controlled tobe in a certain range, thus in the charging process that the secondadapter charges the device to be charged (such as the terminal) in thesecond charging mode, avoiding an abnormity occurring due to a too fastadjusting speed.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in stage 5, the variationdegree of the output current of the second adapter may be controlled tobe less than 5%.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in stage 5, the controlunit can monitor the path impedance of a charging circuit in real time.In detail, the control unit can monitor the path impedance of thecharging circuit according to the output voltage of the second adapter,the output current of the second adapter and the present voltage of thebattery fed back by the device to be charged (such as the terminal).When the path impedance of the charging circuit is greater than a sum ofthe path impedance of the device to be charged (such as the terminal)and the impedance of a charging wire, it may be considered that thecharging interface is in poor contact, and thus the second adapter stopscharging the device to be charged (such as the terminal) in the secondcharging mode.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after the second adapterstarts to charge the device to be charged (such as the terminal) in thesecond charging mode, time intervals of communication between thecontrol unit and the device to be charged (such as the terminal) may becontrolled to be in a certain range, thus avoiding abnormity in thecommunication procedure due to a too short time interval ofcommunication.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the stop of the chargingprocess (or the stop of the charging process that the second adaptercharges the device to be charged (such as the terminal) in the secondcharging mode) may be a recoverable stop or an unrecoverable stop.

For example, when it is detected that the battery in the device to becharged (such as the terminal) is fully charged or the charginginterface is in poor contact, the charging process is stopped and thecharging communication procedure is reset, and the charging processproceeds to stage 1 again. When the device to be charged (such as theterminal) disagrees that the second adapter charges the device to becharged (such as the terminal) in the second charging mode, thecommunication procedure would not proceed to stage 2. The stop of thecharging process in this case may be regarded as an unrecoverable stop.

For another example, when an abnormity occurs in the communicationbetween the control unit and the device to be charged (such as theterminal), the charging process is stopped and the chargingcommunication procedure is reset, and the charging process proceeds tostage 1 again. After requirements for stage 1 are met, the device to becharged (such as the terminal) agrees that the second adapter chargesthe device to be charged (such as the terminal) in the second chargingmode to recover the charging process. In this case, the stop of thecharging process may be considered as a recoverable stop.

For another example, when the device to be charged (such as theterminal) detects that an abnormity occurs in the battery, the chargingprocess is stopped and reset, and the charging process proceeds to stage1 again. The device to be charged (such as the terminal) disagrees thatthe second adapter charges the device to be charged (such as theterminal) in the second charging mode. When the battery returns tonormal and the requirements for stage 1 are met, the device to becharged (such as the terminal) agrees that the second adapter chargesthe device to be charged (such as the terminal) in the second chargingmode. In this case, the stop of quick charging process may be consideredas a recoverable stop.

Communication actions or operations illustrated in FIG. 19B are merelyexemplary. For example, in stage 1, after the device to be charged (suchas the terminal) is coupled with the second adapter, the handshakecommunication between the device to be charged (such as the terminal)and the control unit may be initiated by the device to be charged (suchas the terminal). In other words, the device to be charged (such as theterminal) sends an instruction 1 to query the control unit whether tooperate in the second charging mode. When the device to be charged (suchas the terminal) receives a reply instruction indicating that thecontrol unit agrees that the second adapter charges the device to becharged (such as the terminal) in the second charging mode from thecontrol unit, the second adapter starts to charge the battery in thedevice to be charged (such as the terminal) in the second charging mode.

For another example, after stage 5, there may be a constant voltagecharging stage. In detail, in stage 5, the device to be charged (such asthe terminal) may feedback the present voltage of the battery to thecontrol unit. The charging process proceeds to the constant voltagecharging stage from the constant current charging stage when the presentvoltage of the battery reaches a voltage threshold for constant voltagecharging. During the constant voltage charging stage, the chargingcurrent steps down gradually. When the current reduces to a certainthreshold, it indicates that the battery in the device to be charged(such as the terminal) is fully charged, and thus the charging processis stopped.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 20, based on any of the aboveembodiments, the second adapter 10 can support the first charging modeand the second charging mode, in which the charging speed of the secondadapter charging the device to be charged (such as the terminal) in thesecond charging mode is greater than the charging speed of the secondadapter charging the device to be charged (such as the terminal) in thefirst charging mode. The power converter 11 may include a secondaryfiltering unit 37, the second adapter 10 may include a control unit 36,and the control unit 36 is coupled to the secondary filtering unit 37.In the first charging mode, the control unit 36 controls the secondaryfiltering unit 37 to work, such that the voltage value of the outputvoltage of the second adapter 10 keeps constant. In the second chargingmode, the control unit 36 controls the secondary filtering unit 37 tostop working, such that the output current of the second adapter 10 isthe current with the first pulsating waveform.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can controlthe secondary filtering unit to work or not, such that the secondadapter can not only output the normal direct current with a constantcurrent value, but can also output the pulsating direct current withvarying current values, thus being compatible with the existing chargingmode.

In some embodiments, the second adapter directly applies the currentwith the first pulsating waveform to both ends of the battery of thedevice to be charged (such as the terminal), for direct charging of thebattery.

In detail, in the direct charging, the output voltage and the outputcurrent of the second adapter are directly applied (or directlyintroduced) to both ends of the battery in the device to be charged(such as the terminal) for charging the battery in the device to becharged (such as the terminal), and there is no need to convert theoutput current or output voltage of the second adapter by the conversionunit in the intermediate process, thus avoiding energy loss due to theconversion process. During the charging process in the second chargingmode, in order to adjust the charging voltage or charging current on thecharging circuit, the second adapter can be designed as an intelligentadapter, which completes the conversion of the charging voltage orcharging current, thus reducing the burden on the device to be charged(such as the terminal) and reducing the heat generated by the device tobe charged.

The second adapter 10 according to embodiments of the present disclosurecan work in the constant current mode. The constant current mode in thepresent disclosure refers to the charging mode in which the outputcurrent of the second adapter is controlled, rather than requiring theoutput current of the second adapter to be constant. In practice, thesecond adapter generally charges in a multi-stage constant currentcharging mode.

The multi-stage constant current charging has N charging stages, where Nis an integer no less than 2. The multi-stage constant current chargingcan start the first-stage charging with a predetermined chargingcurrent. The N charging stages of the multi-stage constant currentcharging are executed in sequence from the first stage to the (N-1)thstage. When the charging proceeds to a next charging stage from aprevious charging stage, the charging current value reduces. When thevoltage of the battery reaches a charging stop voltage threshold, thecharging proceeds to a next charging stage from a previous chargingstage.

Further, in a case that the output current of the second adapter is thepulsating direct current, the constant current mode may refer to thecharging mode in which the peak value or mean value of the pulsatingdirect current is controlled, i.e., the peak value of the output currentof the second adapter is controlled to not exceed the currentcorresponding to the constant current mode.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail belowwith specific examples. In an embodiment, the examples of FIG. 21 andFIG. 22 are merely used to help those skilled in the art understandembodiments of the present disclosure, but are not intended to limitembodiments of the present disclosure to specific values or specificscenes in the examples. Those skilled in the art can make variousequivalent modification or change according to the examples given inFIG. 21 and FIG. 22, and such modification or change also falls withinthe scope of embodiments of the present disclosure.

The second adapter includes the power converter (corresponding to theabove-mentioned power converter 11). As illustrated in FIG. 21, thepower converter may include an input end of the alternating current AC,a primary rectifier 38, a transformer T1, a secondary rectifier 39 and afirst rectifier 20.

In detail, the mains supply (which is generally 220V alternatingcurrent) is introduced via the input end of the alternating current AC,and then transmitted to the primary rectifier 38.

The primary rectifier 38 is configured to convert the mains supply intoa current with a second pulsating waveform, and then transmit thecurrent with the second pulsating waveform to the transformer T1. Theprimary rectifier 38 may be a bridge rectifier, for example, may be afull-bridge rectifier as illustrated in FIG. 21, or may be a half-bridgerectifier, which is not limited in embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

The transformer T1 is configured to couple the first pulsating directcurrent to the secondary side from the primary side. The transformer T1may be a common transformer, or may be a high-frequency transformerhaving a working frequency of 50 KHz-2 MHz. The number and connectionway of primary windings of the transformer T1 are related to the type ofthe switch power supply adopted in the second adapter, which is notlimited in embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG.21, the second adapter can adopt a flyback switch power supply, one endof the primary winding of the transformer is coupled to the primaryrectifier 38, and the other end of the primary winding is coupled to theswitch controlled by the PWM controller. Certainly, the second adaptercan also adopt a forward switch power supply, or a push-pull switchpower supply. For different types of switch power supplies, the primaryrectifier and the transformer are coupled to each other in differentways, and for simplicity, elaboration is omitted here.

The secondary rectifier 39 is configured to rectify the current coupledto the secondary side from the primary side, to obtain the current withthe first pulsating waveform. The secondary rectifier 39 may beimplemented in many ways. FIG. 21 illustrates a typical secondarysynchronous rectifier circuit. The synchronous rectifier circuitincludes a SR (synchronous rectifier) chip, a MOS transistor controlledby the SR chip, and a diode coupled between a source and a drain of theMOS transistor. The SR chip sends a PWM control signal to a gate of theMOS transistor and controls the MOS transistor to switch on or off, thusrealizing the synchronous rectifying of the secondary side.

The first rectifier 20 is configured to rectify the current coupled tothe secondary side from the primary side, to obtain the synchronoussignal. As illustrated in FIG. 21, the first rectifier 20 may be aforward rectifier circuit. The synchronous signal is the forward voltageoutputted by the forward rectifier circuit.

Further, the second adapter may include a sampling and holding unit(corresponding to the above-mentioned sampling and holding unit 12). Thesampling and holding unit includes a current sampling unit(corresponding to the above-mentioned current sampling unit 14) and acurrent holding unit (corresponding to the above-mentioned currentholding unit 15).

In detail, as illustrated in FIG. 21, the current sampling unitspecifically includes a current detecting resistor R3 and agalvanometer. The galvanometer detects the current with the firstpulsating waveform via the current detecting resistor R3 to obtain thesampling current, and converts the sampling current to a correspondingsampling voltage (the sampling voltage is configured to indicate amagnitude of the current with the first pulsating waveform).

The current holding unit includes voltage dividing resistors R4 and R5and a capacitor C1. The current holding unit firstly performs voltagedivision on the sampling voltage outputted from the output port of thegalvanometer by the voltage dividing resistors R4 and R5, and thencharges the capacitor C1 using the voltage obtained after the voltagedivision, such that the voltage across both ends of the capacitor C1varies with the current with the first pulsating waveform. When thefirst pulsating waveform reaches the peak value or the falling edge, thevoltage across both ends of the capacitor C1 reaches the maximum(corresponding to the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform), and the sampling and holding unit enters the holding state.

Further, the second adapter includes a current sampling controller(corresponding to the above-mentioned current sampling controller 13).The current sampling controller may include a MCU (corresponding to theabove-mentioned control unit), a comparing unit 24 and a dischargingunit 16.

In detail, the comparing unit 24 may include a comparator. A first inputend of the comparator is configured to receive the synchronous signal. Asecond input end of the comparator is configured to receive thereference voltage. In some embodiments, the first input end is thenon-inverting input end, and the second input end is the inverting inputend. In other embodiments, the first input end is the inverting inputend, and the second input end is the non-inverting input end. Thecomparator sends the comparison result to the MCU.

The MCU determines when the first pulsating waveform is at the peakvalue or in the falling edge based on the comparison result of thecomparator. When the first pulsating waveform is at the peak value or inthe falling edge, it indicates that the sampling and holding circuit isin the holding state. The MCU samples the voltage across both ends ofthe capacitor C1 via an ADC, and thus determines the peak value of thecurrent with the first pulsating waveform.

The discharging unit 16 may include a switch transistor Q3 and aresistor R6. After the MCU samples the peak value of the current withthe first pulsating waveform, the MCU controls the switch transistor Q3to switch on, and the capacitor C1 discharges to the resistor R6, suchthat charges in the capacitor C1 are released. In this way, the voltageacross both ends of the capacitor C1 can vary with the current withfirst pulsating waveform again, which indicates that the sampling andholding unit switches to the sampling state from the holding state.

Further, the second adapter may include a voltage adjusting unit(corresponding to the above-mentioned voltage adjusting unit 28). Thevoltage adjusting unit may include a voltage sampling unit(corresponding to the above mentioned voltage sampling unit 29), avoltage comparing unit (corresponding to the above-mentioned voltagecomparing unit 30) and a voltage control unit (corresponding to theabove-mentioned voltage control unit 31).

In detail, as illustrated in FIG. 21, the voltage sampling unit includesa resistor R1 and a resistor R2, which are configured to perform voltagedivision on the output voltage of the second adapter, to obtain a firstvoltage.

The voltage comparing unit includes an operational amplifier OPA. Aninverting input end of the OPA is configured to receive the firstvoltage. A non-inverting input end of the OPA is coupled to the DAC, andis configured to receive a first reference voltage provided by the DAC.The DAC is coupled to the MCU. The MCU can adjust the first referencevoltage via the DAC, and thus adjust the output current and/or outputvoltage of the second adapter.

The voltage control unit includes an optical coupling unit 40 and a PWMcontroller. An input end of the optical coupling unit 40 is coupled toan output end of the OPA. When the output voltage of the OPA is lessthan the working voltage VDD of the optical coupling unit 40, theoptical coupling unit 40 starts to work, and provides the feedbackvoltage to the FB terminal of the PWM controller. The PWM controllercontrols the duty ratio of the PWM signal outputted from the PWMterminal by comparing the voltages of the CS terminal and the FBterminal. When the output voltage of the OPA is zero, the voltage of theFB terminal is stable, and the duty ratio of the PWM control signaloutputted from the PWM terminal of the PWM controller keeps constant.The PWM terminal of the PWM controller is coupled to the primary windingof the transformer T1 via the switch transistor Q2, and is configured tocontrol the output voltage and output current of the second adapter.When the duty ratio of the control signal sent from the PWM terminal isconstant, the output voltage and output current of the second adapterkeep stable.

Furthermore, the MCU may further include a communication interface. TheMCU can perform the bidirectional communication with the device to becharged (such as the terminal) via the communication interface, so as tocontrol the charging process of the second adapter. Taking the charginginterface being an USB interface as an example, the communicationinterface may also be the USB interface. In detail, the second adaptercan charge the device to be charged (such as the terminal) via the powerwire of the USB interface, and communicate with the device to be charged(such as the terminal) via the data wire (D+ and/or D−) of the USBinterface.

Furthermore, the optical coupling unit 40 can also be coupled to avoltage stabilizing unit, such that the working voltage of the opticalcoupler keeps stable. As illustrated in FIG. 21, the voltage stabilizingunit in embodiments of the present disclosure may be configured as anLDO (Low Dropout Regulator).

The embodiment of FIG. 22 is similar to the embodiment of FIG. 21, anddifferences lie in that, the voltage sampling unit consisting of theresistor R1 and the resistor R2 in FIG. 21 is replaced by a digitalpotentiometer (corresponding to the above-mentioned voltage dividingunit 34), the inverting input end of the OPA is coupled to a fixedsecond reference voltage, and the MCU adjusts the output voltage andoutput current of the second adapter by adjusting the voltage divisionratio of the digital potentiometer. For example, if it is intended thatthe output voltage of the second adapter is 5V, the voltage divisionratio of the digital potentiometer can be adjusted, such that thevoltage at the output end of the digital potentiometer is equal to thesecond reference voltage when the output voltage of the second adapteris 5V. Similarly, if it is intended that the output voltage of thesecond adapter is 3V, the voltage division ratio of the digitalpotentiometer can be adjusted, such that the voltage at the output endof the digital potentiometer is equal to the second reference voltagewhen the output voltage of the second adapter is 3V.

In embodiments of FIG. 21 and FIG. 22, the synchronous signal isobtained by rectification of the first rectifier 20. However, thepresent disclosure is not limited to this, and the synchronous signalcan be obtained from the primary side of the second adapter, asillustrated in FIG. 9. Or, the synchronous signal can be obtained fromthe sampling and holding unit, for example, from the output port(OUTPUT) of the galvanometer as illustrated in FIG. 21 and FIG. 22.

In embodiments of FIG. 21 and FIG. 22, the comparing unit 24 directlycompares the synchronous signal with the reference voltage to determinewhether the sampling and holding unit is in the holding state. However,the present disclosure is not limited to this. The implementationillustrated in FIG. 13 may also be adopted, which filters out the directcurrent signal in the synchronous signal by the capacitor to obtain thealternating current signal at zero crossing point, and then compares thealternating current signal at zero crossing point with the referencevoltage to determine whether the sampling and holding unit is in theholding state.

In the present disclosure, the control units identified with differentreference numbers may be control units separated from each other, or maybe a same control unit. In some embodiments, the second adapter includesa MCU, and each control unit mentioned in the present disclosure refersto the MCU.

In the above, device embodiments of the present disclosure have beendescribed in detail with reference to FIGS. 1-22. In the following,method embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detailwith reference to FIG. 23. It should be understood that, the descriptionfrom the method side is corresponding to the description from the deviceside, and for simplicity, repeated description is omitted.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart illustrating a charging control method accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method of FIG. 23 can beapplied to a second adapter, for example, the second adapter asillustrated in FIGS. 1-22. The second adapter may include a powerconverter and a sampling and holding unit. The power converter can beconfigured to convert the input alternating current to obtain an outputvoltage and an output current of the second adapter. The output currentof the second adapter is the current with the first pulsating waveform.The sampling and holding unit is coupled to the power converter. Whenthe sampling and holding unit is in the sampling state, the sampling andholding unit is configured to sample the current with the firstpulsating waveform. When the sampling and holding unit is in the holdingstate, the sampling and holding unit is configured to hold the peakvalue of the current with the first pulsating waveform.

The method of FIG. 23 includes following actions.

At block 2310, determining whether the sampling and holding unit is inthe holding state.

At block 2320, when the sampling and holding unit is in the holdingstate, sampling the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform held by the sampling and holding unit.

In some embodiments, determining whether the sampling and holding unitis in the holding state may include: receiving a synchronous signal, inwhich a cycle of the synchronous signal is 1/N of a cycle of the firstpulsating waveform, N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; anddetermining whether the sampling and holding unit is in the holdingstate based on the synchronous signal.

In some embodiments, receiving the synchronous signal includes:receiving the synchronous signal from the power converter.

In some embodiments, the power converter includes a primary unit and asecondary unit. Receiving the synchronous signal from the powerconverter may include: receiving the synchronous signal from thesecondary unit.

In some embodiments, the secondary unit includes a first rectifier. Thefirst rectifier is coupled to the current sampling controller. The firstrectifier is configured to rectify the current coupled to the secondaryunit from the primary unit to obtain a voltage with a second pulsatingwaveform, and send the voltage with the second pulsating waveform to thecurrent sampling controller as the synchronous signal.

In some embodiments, the power converter may include a primary unit anda secondary unit. Receiving the synchronous signal from the powerconverter may include: receiving the synchronous signal from the primaryunit.

In some embodiments, the primary unit is configured to rectify thealternating current to obtain a voltage with a third pulsating waveform.A cycle of the third pulsating waveform is the same as a cycle of thefirst pulsating waveform. The primary unit couples the voltage with thethird pulsating waveform to the secondary side of the second adapterfrom the primary side of the second adapter via the optical couplingunit to obtain a voltage with a fourth pulsating waveform, and sends thevoltage with the fourth pulsating waveform to the current samplingcontroller as the synchronous signal.

In some embodiments, receiving the synchronous signal may include:obtaining the synchronous signal from the sampling and holding unit.

In some embodiments, the sampling and holding unit is configured tosample the current with the first pulsating waveform to obtain asampling current, convert the sampling current to a sampling voltage,and send the sampling voltage to the current sampling controller as thesynchronous signal. The sampling voltage is configured to indicate amagnitude of the current with the first pulsating waveform.

In some embodiments, determining whether the sampling and holding unitis in the holding state based on the synchronous signal may include:determining whether the first pulsating waveform is at the peak value orin a falling edge based on the synchronous signal; and determining thatthe sampling and holding unit is in the holding state when determiningthat the first pulsating waveform is at the peak value or in the fallingedge.

In some embodiments, determining whether the first pulsating waveform isat the peak value or in the falling edge based on the synchronous signalmay include: determining whether the first pulsating waveform is at thepeak value or in the falling edge based on a comparison result between avoltage of the synchronous signal and a reference voltage.

In some embodiments, determining whether the first pulsating waveform isat the peak value or in the falling edge based on the synchronous signalmay include: filtering out a direct current signal in the synchronoussignal to obtain an alternating current signal at zero crossing point;comparing a voltage of the alternating current signal and a referencevoltage; and determining whether the first pulsating waveform is at thepeak value or in the falling edge based on a comparison result betweenthe voltage of the alternating current signal and the reference voltage,in which a voltage value of the reference voltage is zero.

In some embodiments, the cycle of the first pulsating waveform is thesame as the cycle of the synchronous signal.

In some embodiments, the method of FIG. 23 may further include:controlling the sampling and holding unit to switch to the samplingstate from the holding state, after sampling the peak value of thecurrent with the first pulsating waveform.

In some embodiments, the sampling and holding unit includes a capacitor,and the sampling and holding unit holds the peak value of the currentwith the first pulsating waveform based on the capacitor in the samplingand holding unit. Controlling the sampling and holding unit to switch tothe sampling state from the holding state may include: releasing chargesin the capacitor of the sampling and holding unit, such that thesampling and holding unit switches to the sampling state from theholding state.

In some embodiments, the second adapter further includes a voltageadjusting unit. The voltage adjusting unit is coupled to the powerconverter, and configured to detect and adjust the output voltage of thesecond adapter. The method of FIG. 23 may further include: adjusting thepeak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform by thevoltage adjusting unit.

In some embodiments, the voltage adjusting unit includes a voltagesampling unit, a voltage comparing unit and a voltage control unit. Thevoltage sampling unit is coupled to the power converter, and configuredto sample the output voltage of the second adapter to obtain a firstvoltage. An input end of the voltage comparing unit is coupled to thevoltage sampling unit. The voltage comparing unit is configured tocompare the first voltage with a first reference voltage. An input endof the voltage control unit is coupled to an output end of the voltagecomparing unit. An output end of the voltage control unit is coupled tothe power converter. The voltage control unit controls the outputvoltage of the second adapter according to a comparison result of thefirst voltage and the first reference voltage. Adjusting the peak valueof the current with the first pulsating waveform by the voltageadjusting unit may include: adjusting the peak value of the current withthe first pulsating waveform by adjusting a voltage value of the firstreference voltage.

In some embodiments, adjusting the peak value of the current with thefirst pulsating waveform by adjusting a voltage value of the firstreference voltage may include: adjusting the peak value of the currentwith the first pulsating waveform by adjusting the voltage value of thefirst reference voltage via a digital DAC.

In some embodiments, the voltage adjusting unit includes a voltagedividing unit, a voltage comparing unit and a voltage control unit. Aninput end of the voltage dividing unit is coupled to the powerconverter. The voltage dividing unit is configured to perform voltagedivision on the output voltage of the second adapter based on a presetvoltage division ratio, to generate a second voltage. An input end ofthe voltage comparing unit is coupled to an output end of the voltagedividing unit. The voltage comparing unit is configured to compare thesecond voltage with a second reference voltage. An input of the voltagecontrol unit is coupled to the input end of the voltage comparing unit.An output end of the voltage control unit is coupled to the powerconverter. The voltage control unit controls the output voltage of thesecond adapter according to a comparison result of the second voltageand the second reference voltage. Adjusting the peak value of thecurrent with the first pulsating waveform by the voltage adjusting unitmay include: adjusting the peak value of the current with the firstpulsating waveform by adjusting the voltage division ratio.

In some embodiments, the voltage dividing unit includes a digitalpotentiometer. A high level terminal of the digital potentiometer iscoupled to the power converter. A low level terminal of the digitalpotentiometer is grounded. An output terminal of the digitalpotentiometer is coupled to the voltage comparing unit. Adjusting thepeak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform by adjustingthe voltage division ratio may include: adjusting the peak value of thecurrent with the first pulsating waveform by adjusting the voltagedivision ratio of the digital potentiometer.

In some embodiments, the sampling and holding unit may include a currentsampling unit and a current holding unit. The current sampling unit iscoupled to the power converter, and configured to detect the currentwith the first pulsating waveform to obtain a sampling current, and toconvert the sampling current to a sampling voltage. The sampling voltageis configured to indicate a magnitude of the current with the firstpulsating waveform. The current holding unit is coupled to the currentsampling unit and the current sampling controller respectively. Thecurrent holding unit receives the sampling voltage from the currentsampling unit, and charges a capacitor in the current holding unit basedon the sampling voltage. Sampling the peak value of the current with thefirst pulsating waveform held by sampling and holding unit may include:obtaining the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform by sampling the voltage across both ends of the capacitor inthe sampling and holding unit.

In some embodiments, sampling the peak value of the current with thefirst pulsating waveform held by sampling and holding unit may include:sampling the peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveformbased on an ADC.

In some embodiments, the second adapter supports a first charging modeand a second charging mode. A charging speed of the second adaptercharging a device to be charged in the second charging mode is greaterthan a charging speed of the second adapter charging the device to becharged in the first charging mode. The current with the first pulsatingwaveform is the output current of the second adapter in the secondcharging mode. The method of FIG. 23 may further include: performing abidirectional communication with the device to be charged during thesecond adapter is coupled with the device to be charged, so as tocontrol an output of the second adapter in the second charging mode.

In some embodiments, performing the bidirectional communication with thedevice to be charged to control the output of the second adapter in thesecond charging mode may include: performing the bidirectionalcommunication with the device to be charged to negotiate the chargingmode between the second adapter and the device to be charged.

In some embodiments, performing the bidirectional communication with thedevice to be charged to negotiate the charging mode between the secondadapter and the device to be charged may include: sending a firstinstruction to the device to be charged, in which the first instructionis configured to query the device to be charged whether to operate inthe second charging mode; receiving a reply instruction of the firstinstruction from the device to be charged, in which the replyinstruction of the first instruction is configured to indicate whetherthe device to be charged agrees to operate in the second charging mode;and charging the device to be charged in the second charging mode whenthe device to be charged agrees to operate in the second charging mode.

In some embodiments, performing the bidirectional communication with thedevice to be charged to control the output of the second adapter in thesecond charging mode may include: performing the bidirectionalcommunication with the device to be charged to determine a chargingvoltage outputted by the second adapter in the second charging mode forcharging the device to be charged; and adjusting the output voltage ofthe second adapter, such that the output voltage of the second adapteris equal to the charging voltage outputted by the second adapter in thesecond charging mode for charging the device to be charged.

In some embodiments, performing the bidirectional communication with thedevice to be charged to determine the charging voltage outputted by thesecond adapter in the second charging mode for charging the device to becharged may include: sending a second instruction to the device to becharged, in which the second instruction is configured to query whetherthe output voltage of the second adapter matches with a present voltageof a battery of the device to be charged; and receiving a replyinstruction of the second instruction sent from the device to becharged, in which the reply instruction of the second instruction isconfigured to indicate that the output voltage of the adapter matcheswith the present voltage of the battery, or is lower or higher than thepresent voltage of the battery.

In some embodiments, performing the bidirectional communication with thedevice to be charged to control the output of the second adapter in thesecond charging mode may include: performing the bidirectionalcommunication with the device to be charged to determine a chargingcurrent outputted by the second adapter in the second charging mode forcharging the device to be charged; and adjusting the peak value of thecurrent with the first pulsating waveform, such that the peak value ofthe current with the first pulsating waveform is equal to the chargingcurrent outputted by the second adapter in the second charging mode forcharging the device to be charged.

In some embodiments, performing the bidirectional communication with thedevice to be charged to determine the charging current outputted by thesecond adapter in the second charging mode for charging the device to becharged may include: sending a third instruction to the device to becharged, in which the third instruction is configured to query a maximumcharging current presently supported by the device to be charged;receiving a reply instruction of the third instruction sent from thedevice to be charged, in which the reply instruction of the thirdinstruction is configured to indicate the maximum charging currentpresently supported by the device to be charged; and determining thecharging current outputted by the second adapter in the second chargingmode for charging the device to be charged according to the maximumcharging current presently supported by the device to be charged.

In some embodiments, performing the bidirectional communication with thedevice to be charged to control the output of the second adapter in thesecond charging mode may include: during charging in the second chargingmode, performing the bidirectional communication with the device to becharged to adjust the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform.

In some embodiments, performing the bidirectional communication with thedevice to be charged to adjust the peak value of the current with thefirst pulsating waveform may include: sending a fourth instruction tothe device to be charged, in which the fourth instruction is configuredto query a present voltage of the battery in the device to be charged;receiving a reply instruction replying the fourth instruction sent bythe second adapter, in which the reply instruction of the fourthinstruction is configured to indicate the present voltage of the batteryin the device to be charged; and adjusting the peak value of the currentwith the first pulsating waveform according to the present voltage ofthe battery.

In some embodiments, the second adapter includes a charging interface,and the second adapter performs the bidirectional communication with thedevice to be charged via a data wire of the charging interface.

In some embodiments, the second adapter supports a first charging modeand a second charging mode, in which the first charging mode is aconstant voltage mode, and the second charging mode is a constantcurrent mode. The current with the first pulsating waveform is theoutput current of the second adapter in the second charging mode. Thesecond adapter includes a control unit. The power converter includes asecondary filtering unit. The control unit is coupled to the secondaryfiltering unit. The method of FIG. 23 may further include: in the firstcharging mode, controlling the secondary filtering unit to work, suchthat the voltage value of the output voltage of the second adapter isconstant; and in the second charging mode, controlling the secondaryfiltering unit to stop working, such that the output current of thesecond adapter is the current with the first pulsating waveform.

In some embodiments, the second adapter directly applies the currentwith the first pulsating waveform to both ends of the battery in thedevice to be charged, for direct charging of the battery.

In some embodiments, the second adapter is configured to charge a mobileterminal.

In some embodiments, the second adapter includes a control unitconfigured to control a charging process, in which the control unit is aMCU.

In some embodiments, the second adapter includes a charging interface,and the charging interface is a USB interface.

It should be understood that, “first adapter” and “second adapter” inthe present disclosure are merely for convenient description, and arenot intended to limit specific types of the adapter according toembodiments of the present disclosure.

Those skilled in the art may be aware that, in combination with theexamples described in the embodiments disclosed in this specification,units and algorithm steps can be implemented by electronic hardware, ora combination of computer software and electronic hardware. In order toclearly illustrate interchangeability of the hardware and software,components and steps of each example are already described in thedescription according to the function commonalities. Whether thefunctions are executed by hardware or software depends on particularapplications and design constraint conditions of the technicalsolutions. Persons skilled in the art may use different methods toimplement the described functions for each particular application, butit should not be considered that the implementation goes beyond thescope of the present disclosure.

Those skilled in the art may be aware that, with respect to the workingprocess of the system, the device and the unit, reference is made to thepart of description of the method embodiment for simple and convenience,which are described herein.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be understood that,the disclosed system, device and method may be implemented in other way.For example, embodiments of the described device are merely exemplary.The partition of units is merely a logical function partitioning. Theremay be other partitioning ways in practice. For example, several unitsor components may be integrated into another system, or some featuresmay be ignored or not implemented. Further, the coupling between eachother or directly coupling or communication connection may beimplemented via some interfaces. The indirect coupling or communicationconnection may be implemented in an electrical, mechanical or othermanner.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be understood that,the units illustrated as separate components can be or not be separatedphysically, and components described as units can be or not be physicalunits, i.e., can be located at one place, or can be distributed ontomultiple network units. It is possible to select some or all of theunits according to actual needs, for realizing the objective ofembodiments of the present disclosure.

In addition, each functional unit in the present disclosure may beintegrated in one progressing module, or each functional unit exists asan independent unit, or two or more functional units may be integratedin one module.

If the integrated module is embodied in software and sold or used as anindependent product, it can be stored in the computer readable storagemedium. Based on this, the technical solution of the present disclosureor a part making a contribution to the related art or a part of thetechnical solution may be embodied in a manner of software product. Thecomputer software produce is stored in a storage medium, including someinstructions for causing one computer device (such as a personal PC, aserver, or a network device etc.) to execute all or some of steps of themethod according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Theabove-mentioned storage medium may be a medium able to store programcodes, such as, USB flash disk, mobile hard disk drive (mobile HDD),read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), a magnetic tape, afloppy disc, an optical data storage device, and the like.

Although explanatory embodiments have been illustrated and described, itwould be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the aboveembodiments cannot be construed to limit the present disclosure, andchanges, alternatives, and modifications can be made in the embodimentswithout departing from spirit, principles and scope of the presentdisclosure.

1. An adapter, supporting a first charging mode and a second chargingmode, the first charging mode being a constant voltage mode, the secondcharging mode being a constant current mode, and the adapter comprising:a power converter, configured to convert input alternating current toobtain an output voltage and an output current of the adapter, whereinthe output current of the adapter is a current with a first pulsatingwaveform; a sampling and holding unit, coupled to the power converter,and configured to sample the current with the first pulsating waveformin a sampling state, and to hold a peak value of the current with thefirst pulsating waveform in a holding state; a current samplingcontroller, coupled to the sampling and holding unit, and configured todetermine whether the sampling and holding unit is in the holding state,and to sample the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform held by the sampling and holding unit when the sampling andholding unit is in the holding state.
 2. The adapter according to claim1, wherein the current sampling controller is configured to receive asynchronous signal, and to determine whether the sampling and holdingunit is in the holding state based on the synchronous signal, in which acycle of the synchronous signal is 1/N of a cycle of the first pulsatingwaveform, N is an integer greater than or equal to
 1. 3. The adapteraccording to claim 2, wherein the current sampling controller is coupledwith the power converter, and configured to obtain the synchronoussignal from the power converter.
 4. The adapter according to claim 3,wherein the power converter comprises a primary unit and a secondaryunit, the current sampling controller is coupled with the primary unitand configured to obtain the synchronous signal from the primary unit;wherein the primary unit is configured to rectify the alternatingcurrent to obtain a voltage with a third pulsating waveform, a cycle ofthe third pulsating waveform being same with the cycle of the firstpulsating waveform, and the primary unit is further configured to couplethe voltage with the third pulsating waveform from a primary side of theadapter to a secondary side of the adapter via an optical coupling unitto obtain a voltage with a fourth pulsating waveform, and to send thevoltage with the fourth pulsating waveform to the current samplingcontroller as the synchronous signal.
 5. (canceled)
 6. The adapteraccording to claim 2, wherein the current sampling controller isconfigured to determine whether the first pulsating waveform is at thepeak value or in a falling edge based on the synchronous signal, and tosample the peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveformheld by the sampling and holding unit when determining that the firstpulsating waveform is at the peak value or in the falling edge.
 7. Theadapter according to claim 6, wherein the current sampling controllercomprises: a comparator, wherein a first input end of the comparator isconfigured to receive the synchronous signal, and a second input end ofthe comparator is configured to receive a reference voltage; and acontrol unit, coupled to an output end of the comparator, and configuredto determine whether the first pulsating waveform is at the peak valueor in the falling edge based on a comparison result between a voltage ofthe synchronous signal and the reference voltage.
 8. The adapteraccording to claim 6, wherein the current sampling controller comprises:a comparing unit, comprising a capacitor and a comparator, in which thecapacitor is configured to receive the synchronous signal and to filterout a direct current signal in the synchronous signal to obtain analternating current signal at zero crossing point, a first input end ofthe comparator is coupled to the capacitor and configured to receive thealternating current signal, a second input end of the comparator isconfigured to receive a reference voltage, and the comparator isconfigured to compare a voltage of the alternating current signal withthe reference voltage; and a control unit, coupled to an output end ofthe comparator, and configured to determine whether the first pulsatingwaveform is at the peak value or in the falling edge based on acomparison result between the voltage of the synchronous signal and thereference voltage, in which a voltage value of the reference voltage iszero.
 9. The adapter according to claim 2, wherein the cycle of thefirst pulsating waveform is same with the cycle of the synchronoussignal.
 10. The adapter according to claim 1, wherein the currentsampling controller is further configured to control the sampling andholding unit to switch to the sampling state from the holding stateafter the peak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform issampled by the current sampling controller.
 11. The adapter according toclaim 10, wherein the sampling and holding unit comprises a capacitor,and the sampling and holding unit is configured to hold the peak valueof the current with the first pulsating waveform based on the capacitorin the sampling and holding unit; the current sampling controllercomprises a discharging unit and a control unit, the discharging unit iscoupled to the control unit and the capacitor in the sampling andholding unit respectively, and configured to the release charges in thecapacitor of the sampling and holding unit under a control of thecontrol unit, such that the sampling and holding unit switches to thesampling state from the holding state.
 12. The adapter according toclaim 1, further comprising: a voltage adjusting unit, coupled to thepower converter, and configured to detect and adjust the output voltageof the adapter, wherein the current sampling controller is coupled tothe voltage adjusting unit, and configured to adjust the peak value ofthe current with the first pulsating waveform by the voltage adjustingunit.
 13. The adapter according to claim 1, wherein the sampling andholding unit comprises: a current sampling unit, coupled to the powerconverter, and configured to detect the current with the first pulsatingwaveform to obtain a sampling current, and to convert the samplingcurrent to a sampling voltage, the sampling voltage indicating amagnitude of the current with the first pulsating waveform; a currentholding unit, coupled to the current sampling unit and the currentsampling controller respectively, and configured to receive the samplingvoltage from the current sampling unit, and to charge a capacitor in thecurrent holding unit based on the sampling voltage, wherein the currentsampling controller is configured to sample the peak value of thecurrent with the first pulsating waveform based on a voltage across bothends of the capacitor in the current holding unit.
 14. The adapteraccording to claim 1, wherein the current sampling controller comprisesan analog-to-digital converter, and the current sampling controller isconfigured to sample the peak value of the current with the firstpulsating waveform based on the analog-to-digital converter.
 15. Theadapter according to claim 1, wherein a charging speed of the adaptercharging a device to be charged in the second charging mode is greaterthan a charging speed of the adapter charging the device to be chargedin the first charging mode, the current with the first pulsatingwaveform is the output current of the adapter in the second chargingmode, the adapter comprises a control unit, and the control unit isconfigured to perform a bidirectional communication with the device tobe charged during the adapter is coupled with the device to be charged,so as to control an output of the adapter in the second charging mode.16. The adapter according to claim 15, wherein when the control unitperforms the bidirectional communication with the device to be chargedto control the output of the adapter in the second charging mode, thecontrol unit is configured to perform the bidirectional communicationwith the device to be charged to negotiate a charging mode between theadapter and the device to be charged; wherein when the control unitperforms the bidirectional communication with the device to be chargedto negotiate the charging mode between the adapter and the device to becharged, the control unit is configured to send a first instruction tothe device to be charged, in which the first instruction is configuredto query the device to be charged whether to operate in the secondcharging mode; the control unit is configured to receive a replyinstruction of the first instruction from the device to be charged, inwhich the reply instruction of the first instruction is configured toindicate whether the device to be charged agrees to operate in thesecond charging mode; and the control unit is configured to charge thedevice to be charged in the second charging mode when the device to becharged agrees to operate in the second charging mode.
 17. (canceled)18. The adapter according to claim 15, wherein when the control unitperforms the bidirectional communication with the device to be chargedto control the output of the adapter in the second charging mode, thecontrol unit is configured to perform the bidirectional communicationwith the device to be charged to determine a charging voltage outputtedby the adapter in the second charging mode for charging the device to becharged; and the control unit is configured to adjust the output voltageof the adapter, such that the output voltage of the adapter is equal tothe charging voltage outputted by the adapter in the second chargingmode for charging the device to be charge; wherein when the control unitperforms the bidirectional communication with the device to be chargedto determine the charging voltage outputted by the adapter in the secondcharging mode for charging the device to be charged, the control unit isconfigured to send a second instruction to the device to be charged, inwhich the second instruction is configured to query whether the outputvoltage of the adapter matches with a present voltage of a battery ofthe device to be charged; and the control unit is configured to receivea reply instruction of the second instruction sent from the device to becharged, in which the reply instruction of the second instruction isconfigured to indicate that the output voltage of the adapter matcheswith the present voltage of the battery, or is lower or higher than thepresent voltage of the battery.
 19. (canceled)
 20. The adapter accordingto claim 15, wherein when the control unit performs the bidirectionalcommunication with the device to be charged to control the output of theadapter in the second charging mode, the control unit is configured toperform the bidirectional communication with the device to be charged todetermine a charging current outputted by the adapter in the secondcharging mode for charging the device to be charged; and the controlunit is configured to adjust the peak value of the current with thefirst pulsating waveform, such that the peak value of the current withthe first pulsating waveform is equal to the charging current outputtedby the adapter in the second charging mode for charging the device to becharged; wherein when the control unit performs the bidirectionalcommunication with the device to be charged to determine the chargingcurrent outputted by the adapter in the second charging mode forcharging the device to be charged, the control unit is configured tosend a third instruction to the device to be charged, in which the thirdinstruction is configured to query a maximum charging current presentlysupported by the device to be charged; the control unit is configured toreceive a reply instruction of the third instruction sent from thedevice to be charged, in which the reply instruction of the thirdinstruction is configured to indicate the maximum charging currentpresently supported by the device to be charged; and the control unit isconfigured to determine the charging current outputted by the adapter inthe second charging mode for charging the device to be charged accordingto the maximum charging current presently supported by the device to becharged.
 21. (canceled)
 22. The adapter according to claim 15, whereinwhen the control unit performs the bidirectional communication with thedevice to be charged to control the output of the adapter in the secondcharging mode, the control unit is configured to perform thebidirectional communication with the device to be charged duringcharging in the second charging mode, to adjust the peak value of thecurrent with the first pulsating waveform; wherein when the control unitperforms the bidirectional communication with the device to be chargedto adjust the peak value of the current with the first pulsatingwaveform, the control unit is configured to send a fourth instruction tothe device to be charged, in which the fourth instruction is configuredto query a present voltage of the battery in the device to be charged;the control unit is configured to receive a reply instruction replyingthe fourth instruction sent by the adapter, in which the replyinstruction of the fourth instruction is configured to indicate thepresent voltage of the battery in the device to be charged; and thecontrol unit is configured to adjust the peak value of the current withthe first pulsating waveform according to the present voltage of thebattery. 23.-26. (canceled)
 27. A charging control method, wherein themethod is applied in an adapter; the adapter supports a first chargingmode and a second charging mode, the first charging mode is a constantvoltage mode, and the second charging mode is a constant current mode;the adapter comprises a power converter and a sampling and holding unit;the power converter is configured to convert input alternating currentto obtain an output voltage and an output current of the adapter, theoutput current of the adapter being a current with a first pulsatingwaveform; the sampling and holding unit is coupled to the powerconverter, and configured to sample the current with the first pulsatingwaveform in a sampling state, and to hold a peak value of the currentwith the first pulsating waveform in a holding state; the methodcomprises: determining whether the sampling and holding unit is in theholding state; and sampling the peak value of the current with the firstpulsating waveform held by the sampling and holding unit whendetermining that the sampling and holding unit is in the holding state.28.-52. (canceled)
 53. A charging system, comprising an adapter and adevice to be charged; wherein, the adapter supports a first chargingmode and a second charging mode, the first charging mode being aconstant voltage mode, the second charging mode being a constant currentmode; the adapter comprises: a power converter, configured to convertinput alternating current to obtain an output voltage and an outputcurrent of the adapter, wherein the output current of the adapter is acurrent with a first pulsating waveform; a sampling and holding unit,coupled to the power converter, and configured to sample the currentwith the first pulsating waveform in a sampling state, and to hold apeak value of the current with the first pulsating waveform in a holdingstate; a current sampling controller, coupled to the sampling andholding unit, and configured to determine whether the sampling andholding unit is in the holding state, and to sample the peak value ofthe current with the first pulsating waveform held by the sampling andholding unit when the sampling and holding unit is in the holding state.